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Dissertations Theses and Dissertations
2001
A Historical Perspective of the Freedom Schools: Implications for Social Change
O. Yvonette Murrell Powell EdD University of San Diego
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Digital USD Citation Murrell Powell, O. Yvonette EdD, "A Historical Perspective of the Freedom Schools: Implications for Social Change" (2001). Dissertations. 680. https://digital.sandiego.edu/dissertations/680
This Dissertation: Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at Digital USD. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital USD. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE OF THE FREEDOM SCHOOLS: IMPLICATIONS FOR SOCIAL CHANGE
by
O. Yvonette Murrell Powell
A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education
2001
Dissertation Committee
Johanna Hunsaker, Ph.D., Chair Dan Miller, Ph.D. Annjennette Me Farlin, Ph.D.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION
A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE OF THE FREEDOOM SCHOOLS:
IMPLICATIONS FOR SOCIAL CHANGE
Since the first African slave ship arrived on the American shores, the nature o f life
for these new inhabitants has differed greatly from that o f any other immigrant group.
The usual patterns o f assimilation were not present. While most other immigrant groups
were able to assimilate within three generations by making name changes, taking on
characteristics of the majority population, finding employment and acculturating via
education, the same avenues were not available to Blacks. After approximately 400 years
of differential treatment, negative stereotyping, social stigmatization, and inordinate
poverty, many Blacks are still struggling to assimilate.
One o f the greatest points o f divergence for Blacks is found in the area of
education. Blacks were the only immigrant group denied education; their access was
restricted during most of their history in America. Once the doors to education opened,
the achievement o f Blacks continued to fall below that of most other groups. The
Children’s Defense Fund and the Black Community Crusade for Children developed a
program called Freedom School to address the problem of education within the Black
community.
This study sought to analyze and fully understand the development o f the Freedom
School program from the perspective of the participants. The study used a case study
approach. The Freedom School program included a component of leadership
development and provides an example o f leadership in the Black community.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Multiple sources of data were used to assure reliability and validity. These sources
provided a richer perspective of the Freedom School than was expected because they
provided information about two earlier programs. A relationship between the three
different Freedom School programs was also found and a pattern o f self-help within the
Black community was also discovered.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. I dedicate this work to
Monrovia Taylor Murrell, my father
and
in memory of, Effie Vertaline Murrell, my mother.
You gave me the courage to keep going despite all obstacles
and
to face challenges even when others don’t understand or criticize.
Erin Edwards and Anita Edwards, my daughters,
Aayona Allison and Emani Carpenter, my granddaughters,
who are Freedom School participants,
face every challenge with the knowledge that God can carry you through.
All of the Freedom School children, interns, site coordinators, program directors,
parents, volunteers, sponsoring agencies, the Children’s Defense Fund, the
Black Community Crusade for Children and those involved in the earlier
programs, you have done a great work, keep going and growing.
11
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I owe the deepest debt of gratitude to my dissertation committee for their
tolerance, patience, and understanding through some tough times: Dr. Johanna
Hunsaker, Professor, School of Business Administration, University of San
Diego, who guided, supported, and provided an ear when it was needed; Dr.
Annjennette McFarlin, Professor of Speech, Grossmont Community College, my
confidant, friend, and fellow Freedom School supporter; Dr. Dan M. Miller,
Professor, School of Education, University of San Diego, who stepped up to the
plate and became a power hitter when others struck out. You have each added
an invaluable strength to this process.
I have a special acknowledgement for Dr. Charles Payne who helped me
get my research started by sharing his information and knowledge of the
Freedom School program with me. Dr. Payne's articles were pivotal in the early
periods of my research.
The work of Marian Wright Edelman, the Children's Defense Fund, and
the Black Community Crusade for Children is acknowledged because they have
worked to reclaim the Freedom School, a program that did and can make a
difference in the lives of many young children.
I would like to acknowledge Dr. Timothy J. Winters, Pastor, Bayview
Baptist Church whose forethought and foresight brought the Freedom School to
San Diego, even when I was resistant. Dr. Winters is working very hard to make
positive changes in the community and I just want to let him know that I am still
with him and ready to work.
iii
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. I would like to thank the members of the Bayview Freedom School family.
I won’t try to list all of your names for fear of forgetting someone. You have
added to my life and helped me grow.
1 would like to thank all of those who agreed to participate in the interview
process with me. Your words gave this research life and I am forever grateful. I
especially want to acknowledge Linda Jones from St. Louis, who interviewed but
due to some technical difficulties her words were not used. Thank you Linda, we
will do this again.
A number of people helped in this process from the background. Those
persons included Leonita Cole and Marion Gary for the help in transcribing. I
double thanks to Leonita who came to my aid when I didn’t know how to use the
computer software.
I am grateful to those who preceded me: John Berry Meachum, Ella
Baker, the fearless SNCC workers, and the others who fought for the rights and
the advancement of all people.
iv
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table of Contents
Chapter 1...... 1
Introduction...... 1 Statement of Problem...... 6 Research Questions...... 9 Overview of Methodology...... 10 Limitations of the Study ...... 11 Definition of Terms...... 13 Summary ...... 15
Chapter 2...... 17
Review of Literature...... 17 Introduction...... 17 Race and Blacks in America ...... 20 Slavery...... 25 Emancipation ...... 31 Civil Rights ...... 39 Post-Civil Rights ...... 43 Education of Blacks in America ...... 47 Access...... 48 Equality ...... 56 Content...... 66 Laws ...... 71 Freedom School...... 75 Leadership...... 95 Summary ...... 113
Chapter 3...... 115
Methodology and Research Design...... 115 Introduction...... 115 Methodological Framework...... 117 Methodological Decision...... 117 Case Study ...... 120 Data Collection ...... 124 Entry to the Population ...... 126 Selection of the Population...... 127 Protection of Subjects...... 133 Data Analysis ...... 124 Importance of the Study...... 138
v
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Background of the Researcher...... 139 Summary ...... 141
Chapter 4 ...... 143
Analysis of Data ...... 143 Introduction...... 143 Freedom School Comparison...... 145 CDF/BCCC Freedom School Overview...... 148 Analysis of Data ...... 173 Summary ...... 226
Chapter 5 ...... 228
Summary, Implications and Recommendations ...... 228 Introduction...... 228 Summary of Study ...... 240 Summary of Methodology ...... 244 Summary of Key Findings ...... 247 Number one: Three generations of Freedom Schools...... 248 Number two: CDF/BCCC and CDF/BCCC Freedom Schools.. 249 Number three: Ongoing funding discrepancies in education.... 251 Number four: Lack of Black history ...... 252 Number five: Ella Baker...... 255 Number six: The transformational leadership of Freedom Schools ...... 256 Implications ...... 257 Recommendations...... 261 Education ...... 261 Freedom School Recommendations...... 262 African American organizations and communities ...... 263 Personal Reflection and Conclusion...... 263
References...... 268 Appendix...... 278 Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee...... 279 Participant Questionnaire ...... 281 Participant Questionnaire # 2 ...... 282 Participant Questionnaire # 3 ...... 283 Consent to act as a research subject ...... 284 Consent to act as a research subject (b ) ...... 285 Consent to conduct research within a work setting...... 286 The Black Community Crusade for Children Freedom Schools 287 Freedom Schools...... 289 The Freedom School Vision...... 290
vi
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. List of Tables
Table #1 Freedom School Program Comparison...... 147
Table #2 Social Change...... 201
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE OF FREEDOM SCHOOLS:
IMPLICATIONS FOR SOCIAL CHANGE
Chapter 1
Statement of the Problem
Introduction
The Freedom School program developed by the Children's Defense Fund
(CDF) and the Black Community Crusade for Children (BCCC) is the focus of this
research. The Freedom School program develops alternative summer and after-
school programs in inner city and rural areas that are predominantly Black and
low-income. In most cases their parent's income is not sufficient to pay for
adequate childcare. Many of the children in these communities are often left
home alone or with older siblings while their parents worked. Many of these
children are recipients of the meal programs that include breakfast and lunch
during the school year. Feeding these children in the home during summer is an
added expense to an income that is already strained. The Freedom School
program was developed to assure these children continue to receive adequate
care and nutrition during the summer and to provide a safe and nurturing place
for fun and learning.
l
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CDF/BCCC developed the Freedom School program using nationally
outlined goals including curriculum, program format, training, program costs and
evaluations; the program also provides for a community-based component.
Community-based sites are encouraged to identify the needs specific to their
community and integrate those needs into the national program. The Freedom
School program is primarily a culturally based, reading enrichment program with
a curriculum that addresses problems and concerns of most African American
communities. The Freedom School program, under the auspices of CDF/BCCC,
seeks to increase family and community involvement in education and to address
other concerns specific to children.
Marian Wright Edelman inspired the development of the Freedom School
program that began in 1992. Mrs. Edelman is the director of the CDF, which was
founded in 1973, and is one of the founding members of the Black Community
Crusade for Children. Beginning in Mississippi in the 1960s, Mrs. Edelman spent
more than a decade working with people living in poverty. She was the first Black
woman admitted to the Mississippi bar and defended many of the Civil Rights
workers during this tumultuous era (Siegel, 1995). During Mrs. Edelman's stay in
Mississippi she became familiar with the devastating effect of poverty that
accompanied the inequalities in the state; this extremely poor population was
invisible to most of America prior to Mrs. Edelman’s work.
From her early days in Mississippi she realized jobs and education were
important for the poor, but the extreme poverty she witnessed drove home
the urgency for immediate action. Her fears were confirmed when she
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investigated conditions in the Delta and the surrounding hiils and learned
some families of eight had an average yearly income of $215. (Siegel,
1995, p. 66)
Although agencies worked with individual families in poverty, no one spoke for
the collective group. The universal effect of poverty, especially on children,
prompted the development of CDF; the organization has worked as an advocate
for children and the poor for more than twenty-five years.
The cofounder of the Freedom School program, the Black Community
Crusade for Children, grew out of the concern of several Black leaders and CDF.
Despite CDF's work to call attention to the plight of the poor and make positive
social changes, Black families and children continued to suffer inordinately from
l the effect of poverty. The continued inequities led to the development of BCCC in
December! 990. CDF and BCCC both focus on the needs of children and families
but have different emphases. While CDF addressed the needs of all children,
BCCC addressed the needs specific to children of African descent. The problems
addressed included educational performance, teen pregnancy, infant mortality,
and gang violence. Several programs were formed under the umbrella of
BCCC/CDF, including the Freedom School program.
The CDF/BCCC Freedom School program that began with one site in
Bennettsville, South Carolina in 1992 grew to fifty-eight sites by the summer of
2000. Like the earlier program, it provided an alternate program for Black
children in Mississippi. There are multiple aims of the Freedom School program,
including the development of a safe and nurturing environment for learning for
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children from kindergarten through the twelfth grade. Other aims of the
CDF/BCCC Freedom School include: (1) leadership development for college-age
youth; (2) training and support to help parents to become more active in their
children's education; and (3) the reconnection of the African American
community.
Mrs. Edelman was a young lawyer in Mississippi in 1964 when the
Student Non-violent Coordinating Council (SNCC) developed an earlier Freedom
School program. The current Freedom School program was modeled after a
1964 Mississippi Freedom Summer program. In 1964 at least forty-one Freedom
School sites were located in churches, houses and even under the trees in
Mississippi. The founding organization, SNCC, began in 1960 with student sit-ins
at the lunch counters in department stores where Blacks were allowed to shop
but prohibited from eating. Those who participated in sit-ins defied the law and
usual practices of the time by asking to be served at the lunch counters. When
refused service, the students refused to leave their seats. Their activities grew
from this initial lunch counter confrontation to include desegregating interstate
buses, encouraging Blacks to vote, and developing the Freedom School
program. A component of this research is the exploration of the development of
the 1964 Freedom School and the factors leading to that development. The
factors that led to the development of the SNCC Freedom School program are
compared to those present in the development of the CDF/BCCC Freedom
School.
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The programs developed by SNCC in the 60s and the programs
developed by CDF/BCCC, including the Freedom School program, are examples
of leadership in the Black community. Most of the programs developed by both
agencies sought and continue to seek social changes in the African American
community. The analysis of the Freedom School program provides a view of the
type of leadership development within the Black community. Aspects of the
Freedom School program are congruent with James MacGregor Bums' (1979)
theory of transformational leadership. Transformational leadership according to
Bums seeks to bring about real change through a relationship of mutual respect
and the interaction of the participants. The Freedom School program provides a
model of transformational leadership development in the African American
community.
Another Freedom School was founded approximately two years into this
research project when Lillian Curiett, the project director of the Jamison Memorial
Freedom School, provided information on a program that began in 1847 in St.
Louis, Missouri. The founder of the program was John Berry Meachum, an ex
slave. Meachum bought his freedom years earlier and had assisted others to do
the same. Less was known about this program than the others. Mrs. Curiett
provided information on Rev. Robert Tabscott, who had completed a study on
this earlier program, and made arrangements for this researcher to meet him.
Although this earlier Freedom School was discovered, it did not become a
primary component of this research. Information on this program and its
relationship to the other Freedom School programs was harder to determine. The
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1847 program was used to increase the understanding of the latter two
programs. The primary emphasis remains the CDF/BCCC Freedom School
program.
Statement of Problem
For most Americans, especially immigrants, education is a means of
assimilation and a key to upward mobility and positions of prominence and
respect. Contrary to the usual outcome, for African Americans education
provides one of the greatest roadblocks to the assimilation, prosperity and
opportunity available to all other citizens in this country. These roadblocks have
taken the form of laws against educating Blacks during slavery, laws that
required separate educational systems, as well as laws funding structures that
put less money into communities with poorer economic bases. Another
roadblock, which is more difficult to measure, concerns the attitudes of
individuals, especially those educators who see African Americans students as
less capable than other students.
The traditional reason given for the inability of African Americans to benefit
from public education focuses on shortcomings within the ethnic group as a
whole rather than the shortcomings of the educational system. African Americans
are said to be genetically inferior and thus unable to benefit from the education
they are given (Staples, 1988). This belief is illuminated in The Bell Curve
(Herrnstein & Murray, 1994). Hermstein and Murray saw genetic inferiority not
only within African Americans but also within lower socioeconomic groups. This
attitude has persisted for generations and has had many and varying results.
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The U. S. Bureau of the Census (2000) shows that Blacks (African
Americans) have consistently constituted between 11.8% and 12.8% of the
population between 1990 and 2000. In 1991 approximately 32% of all Blacks
lived below the poverty level while only 10.7% of all Whites lived below the
poverty level. These numbers changed to 26.4% and 8.2%, respectively, in
March 1999 (Bennett, 1992; U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2000). The educational
gap between Black and White completions of high school closed between 1980
and 1990 with Black completion of high school increasing from 75% to 82%
respectively, while White completion of high school held at 87%. Although the
high school completion gap is closing, the discrepancy found in the completion of
four or more years of college has held at 12% for Blacks between 1980 and 1990
and 25% for the same time period for Whites (Bennett, 1992). These and other
inequities prompted the development of BCCC.
BCCC compared the status of Black children and White children in the
areas of health, family circumstances, poverty, education, violence, crime, drugs,
childbearing, and sexuality (BCCC, 1993). Some of the findings of BCCC
included
■ Black children are more likely than White children to live in single
parent homes or homes with neither parent (BCCC, 1993, p. 37).
■ Black children's parents are often younger and less educated than
White children's parents (BCCC, 1993, p. 37).
■ Black families are more likely to live in rental or public housing (BCCC,
1993, p. 38).
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■ Black babies are more than twice as likely as Whites to die in the first
year of life (BCCC, 1993, p. 51).
■ Black children, youth, and young adults are more likely to die than their
White peers (BCCC, 1993, p. 52).
■ Black children face a higher risk of poverty, with one in two Black
children in America living in poverty (BCCC, 1993, p. 65).
■ Black and White children to age 17 are equally likely to attend high
school, while Black young adults between the age of 18 and 21 are
less likely to be in college than their White counterparts (BCCC, 1993,
p. 79).
■ Black students continue to attend schools segregated by race and
income (BCCC, 1993, p. 79).
■ Black schools are considered resource-poor and lack high expectation
of the children that attend them (BCCC, 1993, p. 80).
■ Black youth are more likely to be victims of crime or to come into
contact with the criminal justice system (BCCC, 1993, p. 99).
■ Black teenagers are more likely to bear children than their White peers
(BCCC, 1993, p. 113).
These and many other inequities found between Blacks and Whites
prompted the development of BCCC. Policy implications were developed for
every area of the study, and the development of the Freedom School program is
consistent with the policy implications related to education. The Freedom School
program addresses two specific areas of the policy implications: (1) "build the
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capacity of parents to support their children's education" and (2) "iink schools
much more closely to parents and to the community" (BCCC, 1993, p. 80).
Within the thirty-six year period between 1964 and 2000 Blacks have
made advances, but they still fall behind the progress of their White counterparts.
Despite the gains made by Blacks, there continue to be large gaps between the
poor and middle class population. When an African American person is able to
gain access to the “good life,” a middle-class life-style, they are usually seen as
different from others in their ethnic group. They often accept the distinction of
being different and tend to distance themselves from others who share their
culture (West, 1993). Those who are able to excel despite the obstacles often
adopt the attitude of their newfound peer group: that any failure to attain upward
mobility is due to personal flaws. These beliefs and others have led to a
separation within the Black community that is greater than anytime in the past,
especially between the poor and middle-class African Americans. This gulf has
left persons who live in poverty with very few role models of success; it has also
led to low self-esteem, especially among those who have no access to the social,
economic, and educational benefits of this country.
Research Questions
The guiding questions for this research pertain to the development of
Freedom Schools and the leadership component of the program. The following
questions will be explored.
1. What social, political, and educational factors led to the development of
both Freedom Schools?
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2. What are the underlying assumptions or philosophies of the
CDF/BCCC Freedom School program?
3. What is the leadership model used by the current Freedom School
program?
4. How does the Freedom School model of leadership compare to
transformational leadership literature?
Overview of Methodology
A qualitative study was chosen to gain a greater understanding of the
CDF/BCCC Freedom School program. The use of a qualitative study, which
includes interviews and questionnaires from those who were active in the
program at the time of this study, provides a view of the program from the
insider’s perspective. Proponents of qualitative studies find that the method is
utilized for educational studies and situations where multiple realities are present
(Bedro & Feinberg, 1982; Guba & Lincoln, 1989; Maykut & Morehouse, 1994;
Merriam, 1988). Document review, interview and survey methods were used to
gather data for this research. The documents reviewed included those related to
both the SNCC and the current Freedom School programs. Additionally,
documentation related to the social and educational environments related to both
Freedom School programs were reviewed.
Interviews were completed with persons from current and past Freedom
School programs. These interviews were completed in person and via telephone.
Three sets of questions were developed for the purpose of the interview and
questionnaire. The first set of questions was developed for the current program;
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the second set was developed for the current leadership of the CDF/BCCC
program and the last set was developed for persons who participated in the 1964
program.
The questionnaires, again using the same questions as those used in the
interview, were sent to persons from the different programs via mail and e-mail.
The participants were given the option of writing the answers to the questions or
recording the answers. Audiotapes were sent to those who chose to record the
answers. Follow-up calls and e-mails were made and sent to those who failed to
reply in a timely manner to the questionnaire. These respondents were given the
option of completing the process via interview.
The data from all respondents were analyzed to find patterns in the
responses and develop an understanding of the programs. The primary focus of
this research is on the current program; however, the close relationship between
the CDF/BCCC and SNCC programs necessitates the analysis of both programs.
Limitations of the Study
This study is limited to an analysis of literature and oral data from the
perspective of the participants who worked to develop Freedom Schools. The
researcher seeks information that shows the development of the program,
assumptions, and methods from an insider's perspective. The written resources
are limited, but there is access to at least three individuals who were active in the
Freedom School during the Civil Rights era, as well as numerous individuals
responsible for the formation and continued development of the current program.
The written data available consist of historical data and biographies of persons
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who were involved in the program. This data is potentially biased to conform to
the perspectives of the Freedom School programs, but other data is used to
substantiate contextual information utilized. Despite these limiting circumstances,
this study provides an opportunity for learning from a different perspective.
An additional limitation of the data from the Freedom School program is
that it does not provide outcome information to prove the success of the program.
The evaluations of the CDF/BCCC Freedom School prior to 1998 focused on
assuring the uniformity of basic programs at the sites. That uniformity included
the training received by the interns, program directors, and sponsoring agencies
of the sites. Additionally, the basic literature used by the programs was another
area where uniformity was encouraged.
This study does not focus on the success of the program but some later
studies will have this as a focus. The developers of the current Freedom School
program plan studies that focus more on outcomes. The longitudinal studies of
the current Freedom School program began in 1998 and will lead to the
development of some outcome data, although the focus is primarily on
attendance. The potential access to some young persons who have taken part in
the program as students within the last five years can provide insight into the
success of the program. Longitudinal data collection requires the program to take
the students who were in the program in the prior year first. Data on the
participation of the returning students is recorded locally and nationally. Since
college students, not reading development instructors, are the teachers in the
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Freedom School program, specific data on improved reading is not sought, it is
hoped the longitudinal study will provide data for future studies.
Finally the personal biases of the researcher are potentially a limitation in
any research project. The perspective of the researcher cannot be separated
from the process and end result of the research project. The choice of qualitative
methodology is an acknowledgement that these biases do exist and cannot be
controlled or separated out. The researcher will guard against the
misrepresentation of these biases as fact by clearly identifying them.
Definition of Terms
African American and Black-These two terms are used interchangeably in this
study. The interchangeability of these terms grew out of the 1960s era. This
researcher views Black as a broader term that refers to Black people worldwide,
while the term African American is specific to persons indigenous to America.
Community-based program - An agency or organization founded in a community
and which uses community leadership and or ideas. The idea of community-
based programs is in contrast with programs and policies that begin with
government policy or agencies outside of the community they serve.
Empowerment- A term that gained greatest prominence in the 1960s during the
civil rights movement. William Safire (1990) quoted Jack Kemp's definition of
empowerment: "giving people the opportunity to gain greater control over their
destiny through access to assets of private property, jobs and education" (p. 12).
Freedom School - A name given to at least two generations of community-based
educational programs. SNCC developed one of these programs and CDF/BCCC
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the other. Preliminary investigation suggests that there was also an earlier
program in St. Louis.
Interqenerational model - A model used by the Freedom School program to
address the needs and develop of leadership skills among the students, servant-
leaders, and parent participants.
Jim Crow Laws - The term "Jim Crow" originated during the minstrel period of the
early nineteenth century. Thomas "Daddy" Rice blackened his face and
portrayed an old black man who had worked on the farm owned by a man named
Crow. The term gained an additional meaning at the end of slavery in the 1890s
when it symbolized subordination and separation between blacks and whites in
the South. Jim Crow Laws, either written or understood, governed the interaction
of Blacks and Whites in the South from shortly after the end of slavery through at
least 1964. The Freedom School program originated during this era. Jim Crow
Laws prohibited any semblance of integration between the groups. Jim Crow
Laws dictated where Blacks went to school, where they rode on buses, where
they could eat, and most other behaviors of Blacks.
Servant-leader - This term stems from the concept of Robert Greenleafs servant-
leader and is used in the current Freedom School program to describe the
college students who are teaching interns. The term also symbolizes the work
and attitude expressed by Ella Baker, whose ideologies are the guiding forces
behind both Freedom Schools. The servant-leader seeks first to serve. In
leadership the servant-leader seeks to promote the good of others.
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Sit-ins - This is one of the methods used to protest the injustices in the social
structure that existed in America, primarily in the South. Blacks were not allowed
to receive service and food at lunch counters in department stores. In 1960 sit-
ins began when three Greensboro, North Carolina college students who had
become indignant about the system decided to demand service at the lunch
counters or refuse to leave.
Summary
Two generations of the Freedom School program were identified in
Chapter 1: the first developed in 1964 by SNCC and the second one developed
in 1992 by CDF/BCCC. The primary focus of this research is the CDF/BCCC
Freedom School program but the close relationship of these two programs has
prompted the researcher to look at both programs and the problems they
addressed in the educational and social structures of this country. Each Freedom
School program was developed to combat the problems specific to the African
American community as identified by those within the community. Many of the
problems that existed during the 1964 Freedom School are felt to continue today
either in the same state or with some minor changes. The goal of this research is
to determine how these problems are the same or how they differ.
The full understanding of the development of each Freedom School
program is found in the context of their development. Chapter 2 explores the
literature related to the cultural and educational settings of the Freedom School
programs. The literature provides insight into the collective workings of those
within the African American community to make positive changes. The Freedom
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School program is viewed as an example of community-based leadership; thus,
the leadership philosophy of the program will be explored.
Chapter 3 provides a more extensive view of the methodology chosen for
this research project. The factors leading to the choice of case study
methodology are explained. The components of the case study are identified in
this chapter. Potential research subjects and the factors used to select the
subjects are identified. The Human Subjects Review is also included in this
chapter.
Chapter 4 contains an analysis and comparison of the data found in the
literature review and through interviews. Patterns of thought and motivation are
explored in this chapter.
Chapter 5 provides an arena to discuss the implications of this research
especially in the areas of community development and education.
Recommendations for future research are also identified in this chapter.
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Review of Literature
Introduction
A literature review is shaped by the nature of the study. When quantitative
methodology is used, the researcher uses a literature review to identify previous
studies, determine gaps in understanding, guide research, identify variables and
suggest relationships (Huck & Cormier, 1996; Strauss & Corbin, 1990). The
literature review in quantitative studies is always integrated into the body of the
research and is not given a formal heading (Huck & Cormier, 1996). Quantitative
studies have detail rich with information on who completed the study, the
materials used, the population studied, and the specific data collected. The
details provided help subsequent researchers replicate the study and thus prove
the validity of the study.
Qualitative literature reviews have a different purpose and presentation.
The literature review in a qualitative study, especially a descriptive case study, is
inductive in nature. The objective of the study is to discover relationships rather
than verify relationships, which is the objective in a quantitative study (Merriam,
1988). The literature review in an inductive study has several functions that are
different from a deductive or quantitative study. These functions include (a)
providing a foundation for a new study; (b) contributing to the formulation of a
problem; (c) focusing the problem; (d) strengthening the research study; (e)
17
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answering questions; and (f) expanding upon previous work (Merriam, 1988). A
qualitative literature review is also more extensive and varied and can either
"deviate from previous work or support it" (Merriam, 1988, p.197). The literature
review is complete "when you begin encountering familiar references and have
stopped finding significant new resources" (Merriam, 1988, p. 65).
During the initial stages of this study on the Freedom School program, the
researcher began with little knowledge of the subject; thus the literature review
provided the foundation for the research. The researcher’s initial introduction and
entree to the subject came with an assignment to determine the feasibility of
beginning a Freedom School program in San Diego in 1997. This topic appeared
consistent with the researcher’s focus on community-based social change using
collaborative methods.
The initial library search ended without any references to the Freedom
School program. The library research was followed by an Internet search of
Black Studies Departments at several universities that initially netted little
success. The researcher was finally referred to Dr. Charles Payne of University
of Illinois, Urbana. Dr. Payne proved to be a wealth of knowledge by providing a
bibliography to begin the research. From this bibliography the researcher was
able to establish a foundation for the study, and each book provided more
bibliographical information. Dr. Payne also provided extensive information on the
context of the earlier Freedom School. Additionally, he provided research that he
had compieted on the topic (Payne 1995; 1997).
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There are four areas of focus in the literature review. The 1964 Freedom
School program was embedded in the civil rights movement, and there were
some minor references to the program that covered this period in history. The
civil rights movement was embedded in the history of Blacks in America. Thus
the review of literature for this study encompassed a broad view of Black history
in order to develop a greater understanding of the development of the Freedom
School program during 1964 and later in 1992. First the issue of race as it relates
to Blacks in America was reviewed. There are keys in the literature about race
that provide a foundation for the current problems in the Black community and
reflect the prevailing attitudes about African Americans prevalent both inside and
outside of the community.
The second area of literature reviewed is that concerned with the past and
present problems with education of Black children. Aspects of the educational
system comparing African Americans to other ethnic groups are sought to
increase the knowledge and understanding of the problems faced by both
students and educators.
The Freedom School programs, 1964 and current, are the third area of
literature reviewed. The researcher will describe and then compare the two
Freedom School programs. This comparison includes the contextual,
educational, social, and political setting of the Freedom School programs. An
understanding of the motivation of the developers of the Freedom School was
sought.
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Finally the leadership model of the Freedom School program was
reviewed. The researcher believes the leadership style prevalent in the Freedom
School program is consistent with the transformational model developed by
James MacGregor Bums (1979). Bums defines transformational leadership as a
process where "one or more persons engage with others in such a way as the
leaders and followers raise one another to higher levels of motivation and
morality" (Burns, 1979, p.20). The current leaders of the Freedom School
program are using an intergenerational model to positively motivate the children
they serve, their parents, the interns, and the community toward a greater level of
personal and collective responsibility. Thus the literature research compared the
model of leadership used in the Freedom School program to that of Bums and
other proponents of transformational leadership.
Race and Blacks in America
Mindel, Habenstein and Wright (1988) analyzed the many ethnic groups
that inhabit the United States, both immigrants and indigenous people. As a
nation overwhelmingly populated by immigrants, each new group that came to
America had to make adjustments as they assimilated into their new culture. The
process of assimilation was characterized by each new wave of citizens
attempting to shed their distinctly ethnic identity. This assimilation motivated new
citizens to take on the characteristics of the dominant culture. Most European
ethnic groups were easily assimilated into the American culture within three
generations.
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Although some European settlers did face prejudice and discrimination,
most were able to change their names and lose their accents, which allowed
them to assimilate more easily. Assimilation for other ethnic groups was not as
easy. Two of these groups, one indigenous to the country, faced obstacles unlike
any other inhabitants. African Americans and Native-Americans are categorized
as "historically subjugated ethnic minorities" primarily "because their identity and
experience in this country have been the result of or strongly influenced by their
respective race" (Mindel etal., 1988, p. 13). Africans and Native-Americans were
placed in bondage and alienated instead of assimilated into the American culture.
Documents from the first landing of Columbus show the early attempts to enslave
the Arawak Indians in the Bahamas. The attempts to enslave this group of
people proved unsuccessful and resulted in the decrease in the population of
Arawak from over three million in 1494 to 60,000 in 1508. These native people in
the new land died because they were overworked; they fought against the
superior weapons of the new settlers, and many killed themselves rather than
work under these new conditions (Zinn, 1990).
Attempts were also made to enslave the Indians on the main continent of
North America. These attempts were met with the same negative consequences.
The Jamestown settlers tried to enslave the Indians living in that region, but the
Indian's intimate knowledge of the territory afforded their escape to the hills and
woods of the area. They would attack the settlers or live off the land while the
settlers struggled to survive. "Not able to enslave the Indians, and not able to live
with them, the English decided to exterminate them" (Zinn, 1990, p. 13). The
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indigenous people died from battle and slavery and from the diseases that came
to America with the European settlers (John, 1988; Mintz & Kellogg, 1989; Zinn,
1990).
The inability to control the indigenous people of America led to the need
for other labor. This prompted the initiation and growth of slave trade from Africa.
The conditions of the enslavement of Blacks were contrary to any other form of
slavery ever known, beginning with the initial capture and transporting of the
slaves. The slaves captured in Africa were marched to the coast, a trip that took
weeks. Two out of every five slaves died in this process. Once the Africans
reached the coastline they were kept in cages for 10 to 15 days until French,
English or Dutch companies bought them. While the Africans waited in the
cages, many others died. The final transition to slavery occurred during the
middle passage when Blacks were transported to America. The slaves were
transported in spaces that allowed little movement, as they were shackled
together. Again the loss of life was great during this process; one out of three
slaves died during the middle passage. Despite this loss of life, slave trade
continued to be very profitable (Zinn, 1990). The process of the slave trade set
the tone for the inhuman existence of Blacks in America.
Neither the Native-Americans nor Africans were respected for their culture
and lifestyle, which differed from that of the European settlers (John, 1988; Mintz
& Kellogg, 1989). The difference in treatment and the inability of these two ethnic
groups to rid themselves of their distinct ethnic characteristics, as most other
groups had, made it difficult for them to assimilate into the culture that
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symboiized America. The term "melting pot" became symbolic of the American
culture in 1906. Israel Zangwill first introduced this philosophy of a "melting pot"
in a play of the same title. The "melting pot" philosophy said, "that immigrants
from all over the world somehow fused together here in America, producing a
new and better amalgam" (Mindel, et al., 1988, p. 2). There was a fusing of the
cultural contributions considered the best in each ethnic group. The
characteristics adopted were generally European; the lack of respect for African
Americans and Native-Americans characteristics and culture limited their
inclusion in the "melting pot."
Bellah (1992), Jordan (1969), Tocqueville (1835/1990), and Zinn (1990)
are among the authors that provide greater insight into the subjugation of Native-
Americans and African Americans. The new European settlers, particularly those
of English descent, envisioned themselves as the new Jews or chosen people
(Bellah, 1992). Their relationship with others, especially people of color, was
based on this belief. As the chosen people they believed it their duty to reform a
pagan world. Native-Americans and Blacks were among those considered
pagans and thus had to be controlled and dominated (Bellah, 1992; Jordan,
1969; Tocqueville, 1835/1990; Zinn, 1990). Other groups, such as the Irish,
Italian, and Polish were also subjected to some levels of control and
mistreatment, but their assimilation was easier than that of Blacks and Native-
Americans.
The study of African American history provides insight into the current
problems related to race in this country. Blacks were contrasted with Whites in
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the early years of this country. This contrast was symbolized by Bellah's (1992)
statement that "the commonest way to make the distinction between white and
black was to speak of Christians and Negroes. On the one hand being Christian
meant a deep commitment to the oneness of man; on the other it meant the right
of Christian Europeans to enslave or destroy any who differed radically from their
belief, custom, and complexion" (pp. 87-88). This negative attitude was based on
differences in culture and physical differences. These differences and the beliefs
that accompanied them were the foundation for the inclusion of some settlers
and the exclusion of others.
Tocqueville (1835/1990) echoed the ideas about race relations in America
expressed by Bellah (1992). Tocqueville traveled around America between 1831
and 1832. During this time he observed all aspects of life in the New World. He
noted the current problems and what he saw as the impending problems due to
racial differences. He compared the state of three races, European, African and
Native-American that inhabited America. The Europeans who lived in the country
were in the positions of prominence while the Native-Americans were the hardest
to control. Since the Africans were in a strange land they were easier to control.
Tocqueville stated, "Oppression has, at one stroke, deprived the descendants of
the Africans of almost all the privileges of humanity"(Tocqueville, 1835/1990, p.
332). The slaves brought to this country were stripped of their entire heritage and
were not allowed to acquire any of the privileges of their new home. Tocqueville
felt that one of the greatest challenges that the New World would face was what
to do with the Blacks if slavery ended.
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A further exploration of the Black experience in America found that it was
formed by three significant occurrences in history: slavery, emancipation, and the
civil rights movement. Each of these occurrences will provide the framework for
the further review of history and its effect on the status and education of Blacks.
These different eras and the subsequent beliefs related to them are also factors
in the development of the Freedom School program.
Slavery.
Jordan (1969), Klein (1967), Mintz and Kellogg (1989), Walter (1996), and
Zinn (1990) were among the authors that examined America and race relations
during the early years of America. Zinn (1990) used letters, journals and other
documentation from early explorers and settlers to paint a picture of America that
is not usually seen. The information gained from these sources helped to identify
some of the factors that led to the development of slavery. The problems
encountered by settlers in the initial years of European colonization of America
set the scene for the forceful importation of Blacks to America. Survival in
America was hard for the initial settlers. 'The Virginians of 1619 were desperate
for labor, to grow enough food to stay alive. Among them were survivors from the
winter of 1609-1610, the 'starving tim e,'. . . five hundred colonists were reduced
to sixty" (Zinn, 1990, p. 24). Labor was needed to sustain the settlers. Earlier
attempts to use Native-Americans for labor failed despite the European
possession of superior weaponry. Since Native-Americans were in their own
country and had an intimate familiarity with it, maintaining control of the
indigenous people was hard.
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Zinn also found that many Whites came to America as indentured
servants either to pay their passage or other debts. They were also hard to
control because they possessed the same cultural heritage and rights as the
other European settlers. The servitude of most indentured servants was short
lived.
Blacks became the best option to meet the work needs of America; thus
the enslavement of Blacks became prevalent. Zinn noted that although Blacks
were easier to enslave than Indians, they were by no means easy to enslave.
Blacks were easier because they were taken from their home and all that was
familiar. The Africans were "forced into a situation where the heritage of
language, dress, custom, family relations, was bit by bit obliterated except for the
remnants that blacks could hold on to by sheer, extraordinary persistence" (Zinn,
1990, p. 26). Stripping Blacks of all that was familiar made their enslavement
easier.
Jordan (1969) found that the first Blacks came to America, probably as
free men, in 1616. Although the first Blacks were free, their presence made little
impact upon the new nation. Instead, the establishment of slavery during the mid-
1600s set the attitudes toward Blacks that would follow them for centuries to
come. Unlike other immigrants, most Africans came to America by force, not by
choice (Staples, 1988). Once in the new land there were few occasions where
descendents of Africans and Europeans were found together socially. This
constant separation coupled with the underlying ideology of inequality made the
enslavement of Blacks possible. "While slavery served as a model of social
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subordination, it was one that couid oniy apply to Negroes, and thus the status of
slave became the very model of what white Americans could not be" (Jordan,
1969, p. 134). The enslavement of some Black men also led to another
separation among the settlers in the new land, that of free Blacks from those
enslaved because the freemen were felt to be "evil examples" to the slaves
(Jordan 1988; Zinn, 1990).
In addition to physical and cultural dissimilarity, the norms and values of
Blacks, their tribal backgrounds, and different languages set them apart. Initially
only Black males came to America but female slaves soon followed. Since they
came in bondage they came as property and with a perceived nature of being
less than human. All aspects of life for Blacks were different than that of others in
America. Slaveholders dictated male-female relationships. "Because mam'age is
basically a legal relationship that imposes obligations on both parties and exacts
penalties for violations of those obligations, there was no legal basis for any
marriage between two individuals in bondage. Slave marriages were regulated at
the discretion of slaveholders" (Staples, 1988, p. 304). Marriages, although not
legal, still flourished during slavery, but family members could be beaten,
sexually assaulted and sold without recourse. A strong propensity toward family
was further born out by "newspaper advertisements between 1736 and 1801 for
1,138 men runaways, and 141 women. One consistent reason for running away
was to find members of one's family - showing that despite the attempts of the
slave system to destroy family ties by not allowing marriages and by separating
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families, slaves would face death and mutilation to get together” (Zinn, 1S90, p.
34).
The African slaves were not alone in their quest for freedom. Zinn also
showed that during the early years of slavery and indentured servitude the two
groups often found themselves in similar states, which led them to work together
and socialize. Although these two groups were in similar states when they first
came to America, there was a basic difference in the social status with Whites
always above Blacks (Jordan, 1969; Zinn, 1990). Two early incidents of escaping
servants included both European and black servants. Each incident resulted in
capture and differential treatment of the runaway servants. One group of
runaways included six Whites and one Black servant. The six White runaways
received light sentences while the one Black runaway's sentence included
receiving "thirty stripes and . . . burnt in the cheek with the letter R, and to work in
shackle one year or more as the master shall see cause" (Zinn, 1990, p. 30).
Another incident included three runaway servants, two European and one black
(Zinn, 1990). Again the white servant received slightly lengthened service while
the black was required to serve his master for the rest of his life. The differential
treatment of blacks as opposed to other citizens was symbolic of the early years
of this country.
Slavery took on different perspectives depending upon where it existed.
Slavery was not exclusive to the United States. A comparison of slavery within
and outside the United States provides even further insight into the devastation
slavery caused. Walter (1996) analyzed the nature of slavery within the United
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States. One of the prime factors found for the differential treatment of slaves was
the size of the plantation where the slaves worked. "In 1860 there were 384,884
slave owners, 338,000, or 88%, of whom held fewer than twenty slaves apiece.
Of these 200,000 owners had five slaves or less" (Walter, 1996, pp. 14-15). The
size of the farm or plantation and the number of slaves were significant because
it determined the nature of the working relationship between the owner and the
slave. Those owners who had five slaves or less often worked in the field with the
slaves and there was less brutality, injury and death. On the larger farms and
plantations the management of the slaves was left to overseers. The workday for
the slaves was longer, the general treatment was harsher and more slaves lost
their lives. One state had most of the farms with over twenty slaves and the
largest population of Blacks, Mississippi. 'The treatment of slaves in Mississippi
was so cruelly harsh that owners in other states found that the most menacing
threat to recalcitrant slaves was the promise to sell them 'down the river' to the
Yazoo Delta" (Walter, 1969, p.17). This treatment of slaves in Mississippi helped
the researcher to later understand the treatment of Blacks after emancipation,
through the civil rights era and into the current time. It also provided the
groundwork for the 1964 Freedom School, which started in Mississippi.
Slavery was not exclusive to America, and slavery outside of the United
States also differed greatly. Klein (1967) compared the existence and nature of
slavery in Virginia and Cuba. These two sights were chosen because of their
many similar characteristics including their size, economic importance, the
predominance of their slave populations, and other details. Klein found very
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distinct differences that affected the nature of slavery and assimilation after
emancipation. The first difference is found in the very attitude toward the rights
and nature of the persons under subjugation. In the United States slaves were
considered chattel with no rights, not even over their own person. Contrary to this
philosophy, the slaves in Cuba and other Spanish holdings never lost their legal
status as human beings. The Spanish government and church maintained their
control of the colonization of Cuba. Humanitarian groups that fought for the rights
of enslaved people heavily influenced these organizations. There was no such
intervention by the English government or church. Instead merchants and their
economic interests dictated the colonization of the United States. Thus the
slavery that existed is known as the cruelest and most inhumane form of slavery
that ever existed.
Klein also found that the nature of skills slaves were allowed to develop
was an additional difference in the slavery of Virginia and Cuba. Most slaves in
Virginia and other areas of the United States were relegated to menial, non
skilled tasks such as field hands, kitchen, and household help. The range and
diversity of skills developed by slaves in Cuba and other colonies was much
broader. This diversity of skills and the attitude toward the slaves made
assimilation easier after emancipation. "When abolition finally came to Cuba, it
thus affected an institution that had long ceased to play a vital part in any aspect
of the economy" (Klein, 1967, p. 258),
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Emancipation.
Emancipation in most states occurred in 1865. Several authors recorded
the consequences of emancipation (Daniel, 1990; Klein, 1967; Litwack, 1999;
Oshinsky, 1996; Staples, 1988; Walter, 1996; Washington, 1896; Zinn, 1990,
1994). Walter (1996) found that the end of slavery was not the end of the socially
differentiated status of the former slaves. Instead it marked the end of the few
protections afforded slaves. Although slaves were at the mercy of their owners,
this relationship protected them against abuse from others. After emancipation
many slaveholders called their slaves together and told them they would have to
leave the only home they had ever known. They were then left without homes
and means of support and without any means to remedy the problem. Union
soldiers allowed some freedmen to live on and work abandoned farms and
plantations, but they were prohibited from buying most of this property. Often
after revitalizing the land, the freedmen were called squatters and made to leave.
Those freedmen who were allowed to live on the land worked hard to buy
property for themselves. The Freedman Bureau established the Freedman Bank
for Blacks only; many former slaves began saving with the goal of purchasing
their own property. Washington speculators soon became aware of the funds in
the Freedmen Banks, which were more than anyone expected, and opened the
banks to the use of non-Blacks (Walter, 1996). Most if not all of the funds saved
by ex-slaves were lost to faulty loans and investments. These crimes against
Blacks and others were allowed because they were not given protection under
the law. Although the Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments had
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passed, many of the southern states did not ratify or adhere to these
Amendments. Mississippi, where most of the blacks continued to reside, again
led the way in the disenfranchisement of blacks after emancipation (Oshinsky,
1996; Walter, 1996). Slavery had been ended in name but not in practice. Strict
racial lines were drawn and laws were developed to prevent any semblance of
equality. During the short period of Reconstruction, Blacks were allowed to vote,
but intimidation and regulations that governed the rights of Blacks soon ended
these rights.
Zinn (1990) further explored the emancipation of slaves and noted that
despite the laws to free slaves, it was emancipation without freedom. Andrew
Johnson, who was Lincoln's vice president and became president after Lincoln's
assassination, kept the nation together by vetoing all bills that would help the
freed Blacks. Additionally "he made it easy for Confederate states to come back
to the Union without guaranteeing equal rights to blacks. During his presidency,
these returned southern states enacted 'black codes,' which made the freed
slaves like serfs, still working the plantations" (Zinn, 1990, p.194).
The social separation of Blacks and Europeans was strictly enforced
(Jordan, 1969; Litwack, 1999; Zinn, 1990). The presence of laws indicated a
strong tendency toward relationships among the races and heavy penalties were
levied against those Whites that were caught with persons of African descent. In
Virginia early court records indicate that in 1630 a white man was ordered to be
"soundly whipt. . . for abusing himself. . . by defiling his body by lying with a
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Negro" (Zinn, 1990, p. 30). Written iaws against fraternization between blacks
and whites were passed in 1661.
Only one fear was greater than the fear of black rebellion in the new
American colonies. That was the fear that discontented whites would join
black slaves to overthrow the existing order. In the early years of slavery,
especially, before racism as a way of thinking was firmly ingrained, while
white indentured servants were often treated as badly as black slaves,
there was a possibility of cooperation. (Zinn, 1990, p. 37)
A strict color line thus had to be drawn between Blacks and Whites; this color line
endured for centuries.
Zinn (1994) found that the abolition of slavery and the end of the gross
inequalities of this nation were minor factors in the Civil War. The maintenance of
the Union and financial factors played a much greater role. The initial
Emancipation Proclamation, issued in 1863, only applied to states that were still
rebelling against the Union. "Lincoln used it as a threat to Confederate states: if
you keep fighting, I will declare your slaves free; if you stop fighting, your slaves
will remain. So, slavery in the border states, on the Union side, [was] left
untouched by the proclamation" (Zinn, 1990, p. 342). Slavery was not declared
unconstitutional until 1865 with the Thirteenth Amendment. Despite the
emancipation of the slaves, many of the same social practices continued but
without the few safeguards that slavery provided, such as protection from
random abuse and the provision of food, clothing and shelter by the slave
owners. In 1868 the Fourteenth Amendment declared equal protection by the law
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for ali people. The expected change that came with this Amendment "was soon
dead - interpreted into nothingness by the Supreme Court, unenforced by
presidents for a century" (Zinn, 1990, p. 343). Many of the same practices
continued and new, more brutal ones developed to maintain the dominance
established by slavery.
Daniel (1990) found similar outcomes at the end of the civil war and the
emancipation of the slaves. The end of slavery ushered in a period of involuntary
servitude known as peonage. "An economy based on labor-intensive agriculture
and extractive industries, a large African American population, and a heritage of
slavery, violence, and discrimination furnished a context for the continuation of
slavery in another guise" (Daniel, 1990, p. ix). Former slaves became
sharecroppers and former slaveholders owned the land and provided the
supplies necessary to sustain the sharecroppers who worked the land. After a
year of work the produce from the land rarely provided substantial income to get
the sharecropper out of debt and thus whole families continued to work for little
or no pay. The sharecropper’s debt was compounded year after year. Vestiges of
this system existed from 1865 until 1969 (Daniel, 1990; Washington, 1896).
Other authors noted that the extremely precarious nature of life for Blacks
continued after the beginning of emancipation. "By 1840, Mississippi had become
the nation's leading cotton producer, with black slaves comprising more than half
of its 375,000 people. The great bulk of whites were rough back-country folk, well
armed, fiercely democratic, deeply sensitive to insults and signs of disrespect"
(Oshinsky, 1996, p. 3). Just as Mississippi set the tone for slavery they also set
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the tone for emancipation. A set of criminal codes, the Black Codes, were
developed and directed against the newly freed slaves (Gossett, 1971; Litwack,
1999; Oshinsky, 1996). These codes were known for their harshness, so that
Mississippi soon acquired the nickname of the "lynching state" (Oshinsky, 1996).
During the late 1800s and early 1900s violence in Mississippi was a way
of life and was not limited to racial violence. Minor altercations often ended in
injury and most often death. "A presidential emissary offered this observation to
Andrew Johnson after traveling through the South on an inspection tour in 1865:
'Mississippians have been shooting and cutting each other . . . to a greater
extent than all of the other states of the Union put together"' (Oshinsky, 1996, p.
24). The level of violence on a regular basis among the White population of the
state made the harshness of the treatment of Blacks no surprise. Prison
sentences or death were rarely a consequence for a crime committed by a white
person in Mississippi, even when it was a major infraction. In contrast, any
infraction on the part of an ex-slave, no matter how minor, could result in death
without trial or life in prison.
Mississippi's state prison system was developed specifically for Blacks
(Oshinsky, 1996). Prisoners were initially placed in the hands of private citizens
who made profit by leasing the prisoners to farmers or other labor forces to do
work that was usually too dangerous for others. Unlike slavery, in which
slaveholders were concerned about the health of Blacks or their ability to work, if
one of the prison laborers became ill or died, they knew they could get more
workers with little effort. Prisoner leasing was a very lucrative business
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(Oshinsky, 1996). This system was later replaced by a state-run prison system
that initially continued leasing inmates and later replaced by a state-run
plantation, Parchment Farm. Parchment Farm became a financial boon to
Mississippi, as it became one of the largest producers and processor of cotton.
Again Mississippi led the south in the treatment of freedmen in the south. Other
states also developed prison systems that included inmate leasing; those states
that did not develop prisons leased prisoners from Mississippi. Mississippi was
as important during emancipation as it was during slavery, because most of the
Black population resided in the state. Mississippi continued to lead the south in
the disenfranchisement of Blacks after slavery ended.
The Jim Crow laws and Black Codes insured a steady population of Black
prisoners. The term "Jim Crow" originated in the early nineteenth century. A
White minstrel, Thomas "Daddy" Rice, made the term popular as part of his act.
Rice blackened his face, dressed in tattered clothing, danced, sang and
emulated characteristics he attributed to African Americans. The act was called
"Jumping Jim Crow" and was meant to entertain Whites, but by 1830 it became a
symbol of a distorted image of Black life. "But by the 1890s, 'Jim Crow' took on
additional force and meaning to denote the subordination and separation of black
people in the South, much of it codified, much of it still enforced by custom and
habit" (Litwack, 1999, p. xiv - xv).
Black Codes developed after the Civil War in response to the South's
strong opposition to the enfranchisement of Blacks.
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As soon as they were able, several southern states passed laws, the so-
called 'Black Codes,' which were designed to limit drastically the rights of
the newly liberated slaves . . . When the Black Codes of South Carolina
were published in 1866, H. Melville Myers, the editor, explained . . . why
such laws were necessary. The Negro race, he declared, at all times had
'been excluded, as a separate class, from all civilized governments and
family of nations,' since it was doomed by a mysterious and Divine
ordination " (Gossett, 1971, pp. 255 - 256)
The Black Codes were established to maintain a legal separation between
Blacks and Whites after the emancipation. Despite the war that ended slavery
there were no intentions to make Black equal citizens under the law and the
Black Codes assured that. Thus the Jim Crow Laws and the Black Codes
assured the continuation of the philosophy and laws that maintained the
inequality of Blacks and Whites after emancipation.
Every aspect of life in the South was affected by the separation of cultures
and regulated by Jim Crow Laws (Litwack, 1999; Zinn, 1990). Blacks endured a
life of quiet fear, personal threat, unequal education, constant violence and long
imprisonment for minor infringements, if any, of the law. The early lives of well-
known persons such as James Weldon Johnson, Benjamin Mays, Martin Luther
King, Sr., Richard Wright, Zora Neale Hurston and many others were chronicled
by Litwack (1999). Black children were taught at a very early age that they were
different not by what was said but what wasn't said (Litwack, 1999). During the
early years of the lives of those Blacks living in the South most of what was
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learned came from unanswered questions, unexplained actions, and unearned
hate. All aspects of Black life in the South, homes, schools, employment
opportunities and all other areas of life were meant to reflect and "reinforce
feelings of separateness and inferiority" (Litwack, 1999, p. 20). Those who were
able to succeed did so despite the obstacles of the system.
Again Klein’s (1967) comparison of slavery in America with that of Cuba
found that most slaves in Cuba were freed prior to the formal emancipation that
came to that country in the early nineteenth century. Beginning in 1712
discussions started regarding means of freedom for enslaved men and women in
Cuba. The system that developed was known as “coartacion” and allowed for the
slaves to save funds to purchase their freedom. “Basic to the coartacion’s
functioning was the slave’s absolute right to property of his own . . . which dated
back to Roman law” (Klein, 1967, p. 196). Several other opportunities also
provided means for slaves to gain freedom without financial means, such as
incidents of mass emancipation as the result of fighting for the Crown in the
1760s and another emancipation as the result of a visit from a Spanish legislator
in 1790. The laws that dictated the continuation of slavery in America were not as
strict in Cuba. Although distinct social lines existed in Cuba, there was a greater
ability to move from one class to another despite color. Although during the
earlier years of freedom, university level education and some professional
schools, such as law and medical schools, were limited to primarily upper class,
Whites, but marriage and paternity eliminated these lines.
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Staples (1988) also found that despite the end of slavery, life for Blacks
changed very little. Employment opportunities, especially for men, were few and
pay menial. The lack of opportunity was not limited to the southern region of the
country. "Unlike the European immigrants before them, blacks were
disadvantaged by the hard lines of northern segregation along racial lines"
(Staples, 1988, p. 307). Those persons who immigrated to the north continued to
be challenged by inequities, which led to the development of urban ghettos.
During the post-slavery period the survival of the family gained even greater
significance. The obstacles to adequate employment thus required both Black
men and women to work to sustain the family. In 1900 approximately 41% of
Black women worked outside of their homes compared to 16% of white women
(Staples, 1988).
Civil Rights.
Inequality in America had persisted for more than three hundred years,
from the mid-1500s through the 1960, unobstructed and with only isolated
challenges. The greatest challenges to the system of inequality came during the
civil rights era. This period also marked a time of self-help and Black unity
unmatched during any other time (Sitkoff, 1992). This time period also spawned
the 1964 Freedom School. The years of inequality, abuse and poverty made it
apparent that help would not come from the government or other resources in the
community. Change would only come if it were founded within the community.
Carson (1995), Daniel (1990), Meltzer (1970), Miller (1992), Morris (1984),
Payne (1995), Sitkoff (1992), Walter (1996) and many others studied the period
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immediately prior to and during the civil rights movement. Little had changed
between the period of emancipation and the civil rights movement. This was
exemplified by the system of peonage, Jim Crow laws, and regulations in the
South that dictated all interactions between African Americans and Whites
(Daniel, 1990; Meltzer, 1970; Sitkoff, 1992). Separate facilities were mandated
for Blacks and Whites from birth to death, from separate hospitals to separate
graveyards. These regulations impacted most Blacks in America, since 90% lived
in the South. Sitkoff (1992) noted that these laws encompassed all facets of life
in the South and further solidified and maintained the belief and structure of
inequality. These inequalities and inequities characterized the social, educational
and political contexts of the first sixty years of the twentieth century and were the
result of nearly four hundred years of continual and inescapable discrimination
and inequalities that defined the lives of African Americans.
The growing technology of the late 1950s and the 1960s as well as the
seemingly all-encompassing activities of the civil rights movement helped
demonstrators gain greater publicity for their fight against segregation. These
were not the first activities related to civil rights for Blacks but the battles for
equality in the twenties and thirties had isolated results if any (Morris, 1984;
Sitkoff, 1992). Black-rights organizations and techniques were developed and
used to publicize and fight the injustices found primarily in the south. Voter
registration drives, attempts to desegregate the schools, lunch counters and
buses, marches and many other activities helped to end Black isolation. The
collective nature of the movement took persons active in the struggle for equality
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from a state of hopelessness to a feeling of empowerment. Tactics of intimidation
no longer worked to quell the activities of Blacks (Dittmer, 1995; Payne, 1995;
Sitkoff, 1992).
Morris (1984) analyzed the development of the civil rights movement from
an organizational theorist’s perspective. Some of the key factors in the
movement were the use of community based support systems, unity among the
different civil rights organizations, multiple organizations addressing different
aspects of the same problem, as well as the many approaches taken by the
organizations and a financial base that was independent from the usual controls
of the power structure. Most of their funds were independent from the White
community since the Black church was the primary source of income. The usual
forces in the community that enforced the inequalities that Blacks endured did
not intimidate most civil rights organizations that were active in the 1960s. The
organizations active during the 1960s included some with a long history of
activism and others that developed almost spontaneously during that time period;
each organization played a role in social change. The National Association for
the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was developed prior to 1910 and
concentrated primarily on legal actions. Although the NAACP had local branches,
the national office governed all of the activities of the organization. Some of the
early community-based civil rights organizations included the Montgomery
Improvement Association (MIA), the Inter Civic Council (ICC) of Tallahassee and
the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights (ACMHR). Many of these
organizations were developed in the early 1950s and addressed the problems
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specific to the communities in which they were founded. The Southern Christian
Leadership Council (SCLC) also developed in the late 1950s and later, under the
leadership of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., became one of the most visible
organizations in the struggle for civil rights. SNCC was founded in 1960. These
and many of the other civil rights organizations of the time worked both
independently and in conjunction with one another. During the earlier years of the
coexistence of these organizations there was discord that later gave way to a
working relationship (Grant, 1998; Morris, 1984; Payne, 1995).
The most diverse of these organizations were the NAACP and SNCC.
While the NAACP approached change using a slow, methodical, legal method,
SNCC chose a more radical, direct-action approach. This difference was the
source of the initial dissention between SNCC and most of the longer standing
organizations (Grant, 1998; Morris, 1984; Payne, 1995). The many civil rights
organizations began developing a working relationship in 1961. Out of these
efforts to build a united front, the Council of Federated Organizations (COFO)
was formed in 1962 to provide some coordination. COFO was an important
coalition especially in Mississippi. A well-known leader of the NAACP, Medgar
Evers, helped to sanction the working relationship and early demonstrations of
SNCC (Payne, 1995).
Zinn (1990) noted that the United States had laws adequate to end
discrimination in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments and other laws but
failed to enforce them. One example is the Civil Rights Act of 1875, which
outlawed the exclusion of Blacks from hotels, theaters, railroads, and other public
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accommodations. "Civil rights iaws were passed in 1957,1960, and 1964. They
promised much, on voting equality, on employment equality, but were enforced
poorly or ignored" (Zinn, 1990, p. 448). Several civil rights organizations,
including SCLC, SNCC, CORE, and others, were formed or became more visible
during the civil rights movement in an effort to illuminate the problems faced by
African Americans. Blacks and others participated in public demonstrations that
resulted in the strengthening of old laws and the development of new federal
laws prohibiting segregation.
Post-Civil Rights.
The goal of the civil rights movement was to bring about change in a
system that had existed since the first slave came to America and to gain
equality for the many Blacks who had suffered from the injustices related to that
system. The changes brought about by the civil rights movement are reflected in
the writings of several authors include Carnoy (1995), Hacker (1995), Kotlowitz
(1991), Kozol (1992; 1995), Siegel (1995), Staples (1988), and many others. The
social changes varied from one community to another with some communities
showing no substantial change. The lack of change is reflected in the writings of
these authors.
The civil rights movement initiated major changes in the social order for
many African Americans; however, despite the changes and social
advancements experienced by Blacks, there continued to be gaps between
Blacks and Whites. Despite the work of the past the current generation of African
Americans continues to struggle with the same problems of inequality and
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discrimination, including unempioyment, poverty, crime, teen pregnancy, and
educational underachievement (Kozol, 1992). These problems cause and are
compounded by low self-esteem and many stress-related problems. One of the
most poignant examples of the inequalities was found in East St. Louis, Illinois, a
city that is predominantly, if not all Black. The cyclical relationship found in the
community, education and social structure resulted from the segregation of poor
African Americans into homogeneous communities. Kozol interviewed residents
of these cities. One young man who said, “you asked a question about Martin
Luther King . . . All that stuff about ‘the dream’ means nothing to the kids I know
in East St. Louis. So far as they’re concerned, he died in vain” (Kozol, 1992, p.
37). East St. Louis is predominantly low-income; the city next to it is
predominantly White and rich both in income and other resources. Comparable
stories were found in the other cities Kozol chronicled.
In a later book Kozol (1995) explored the lives of young people living in
the South Bronx community of Mott Haven. This community and the adjacent
communities, Washington Heights and Harlem, “make up one of the largest
racially segregated concentrations of poor people in our nation” (Kozol, 1995, p.
3). The Mott Haven community is made up of two-thirds Hispanics and one-third
African Americans with a median household income in 1991 less than $8000.
The housing of most of the residents of the Mott Haven community was
compared to that in the poorest communities in Mississippi. The City of New York
owns most of it. This substandard housing is heated poorly in the winter and
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cooied pooriy in the summer, which makes the struggle to survive that much
harder.
There is also a high concentration of drugs, crime, prostitution, illness
including HIV and AIDS, asthma, and depression (Kozol, 1995). The
concentration of children is also high in this community chronicled in the writings
of Kotlowitz (1991) and Kozol (1990,1995). Kozol spoke to and told the stories of
the many children that lived in this community. One of the residents in the area
questioned “Why do you put so many people with small children in a place with
so much sickness? This is the last place in New York that they should put poor
children. Clumping so many people, all with the same symptoms and same
problems in one crowded place with nothin’ they can grow on? Our children start
to mourn themselves before their time” (Kozol, 1995, p. 11). The children speak of
being “locked down,” isolated and often of crying without knowing the reason all
because of one cause, racism. The isolation was made more apparent by the
actions of the city in addressing the freeway that passed within eyeshot of the
poverty of this community. Instead of working to improve the situation, the city
painted windows on the sides of the buildings with flowers and curtains (Kozol,
1995). The squalor and despair in this community is blamed most often on the
inhabitants, although much of it is the consequence of the actions of the city that
used this area as a dumping ground for the poor and homeless. It is also the
dumping ground for the companies and trash that isn’t wanted anywhere else.
Despite this bleak scene many of the children continue to hold on to hope for
something better.
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Kotlowitz (1991) painted the same picture, but this time the city is
Chicago. The battle of two children trying to grow up in the inner-city projects was
followed. The isolation in Mott Haven and East St. Louis continued in Kotlowitz’s
story. Substandard housing, crime, drugs, and illness continued in this
predominantly Black neighborhood.
Several problems that plagued African American families during the past
continued to exist into the 1980s, especially with families living in poverty
(Staples, 1988). First, one-third of the nation’s Black population lived in poverty at
the time of the 1983 census. Second, women as heads-of-households increased.
Staples indicated that this change was partially due to the increase in children
bom out of wedlock that became prevalent in the urban ghettos. Third, the
unemployment rate for Blacks is consistently higher than that of non-blacks. This
is especially true for Black teenage males living in low-income areas in which
unemployment rates rose as high as 75% during the 1983 census period. Fourth,
even with an increase in education for African Americans, the employment
opportunities and financial gains lag behind that of most other ethnic groups.
Staples noted that Black college graduates "were unemployed as frequently as
white males who had not graduated from high school.. .Black family income is
only 56% of white family income" (Staples, 1988, p 308).
The study of race in America, especially as it relates to African Americans,
provides the underlying reasons and core issues that lead to the development of
the Freedom School programs. This researcher focuses primarily on the
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theoretical basis for the treatment of Blacks. The purpose is not to lay blame on
one race or to rationalize for another race.
Education of Blacks in America
The education of Black America mirrors and is rooted in the history of this
country. Just as the history of African Americans differs greatly from that of all
other immigrants to this country, so does their history of education. Just as
African Americans were denied citizenship and the full privileges that
accompanied it, they were also denied the benefit of education. The overview of
the Black presence in America facilitates a fuller understanding of the
educational dilemma found in 1964 and today. This historical perspective
provides the foundational understanding of the assumptions and attitudes that
are inseparable from all aspects of African Americans’ lives, including education.
Thus the study of the education of African Americans is approached from
a historical perspective. Historians, such as Brown (1996), Comer (1988,1993,
1997), Delpit (1995), Douglass (1892/1962), Hale (1994), Hale-Benson (1986),
Haskins (1998), Jordan (1969), Ladson-Billings (1994), Meltzer (1970), Zinn
(1990,1995), and many others, who have studied the development of the racial
perspectives of this country and of African American writers, provide the
foundation for this study. The biographies and autobiographies of those who lived
and experienced the education of the time are very valuable in gaining the
understanding from a Black viewpoint. Information was sought in four specific
areas: access, equality, content, and laws governing education.
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Access.
Access to education was a problem for African Americans more than any
other immigrant group in this country. There were many prohibitions to education,
especially for slaves. Slaveholders thought that education would cause unrest
and unruly behavior by the slaves because they would become dissatisfied with
their status in life. Education then and now provided an avenue of socialization
and acculturation for most new citizens. Because slaves were viewed as property
and not citizens, they were not afforded the same level of acculturation and
socialization as other immigrants.
Armstrong (1993), Haskins (1998), and Jordan (1969) studied access to
education beginning with colonial America. Public schools were not available so
most of the schools that did exist were associated with the churches and
religious groups of the time. Religious education of all persons was supported by
most of these groups, especially the Quakers. "In the late 1600s groups of
Quakers openly protested the prohibition against education of slaves as un-
Christian and opposed to the nature of man" (Haskins, 1998, p. 9). Some
colonies provided schools specifically for Blacks but they were few because the
general consensus of the time was that Blacks were by nature inferior and
unable to learn. Despite these obstacles during colonial times some Blacks
benefited from education where it was available for Whites. The sources of
education for Blacks were few and continually opposed; thus, access was limited
(Haskins, 1988; Jordan, 1969). Opposition to education for Blacks, especially
slaves, grew even greater once independence was gained from England and
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new states developed, because many of these states adopted slavery as an
integral part of their social structure (Haskins, 1988).
Douglass (1892/1962) wrote of his experiences as one of these slaves.
Douglass received his initial teaching from the mistress of the home where he
lived. When Douglass' slaveholder discovered that his wife was teaching
Douglass to read, he explained to her that it was unlawful as well as unsafe to
teach a slave to read. This again supported the commonly held belief that
learning spoiled a slave and made them unfit for slavery. The common thought
was a slave "should know nothing but the will of his master, and leam to obey it.
As to himself, learning will do no good, but a great deal of harm, making him
disconsolate and unhappy. If you teach him to read, he'll want to know how to
write, and this accomplished, he'll be running away with himself' (Douglass,
1892/1962, p. 79). From that time on he was watched steadily to assure that he
was not reading. Douglass began carrying a dictionary and asking the children in
the neighborhood questions to continue his learning. He would find torn pieces of
books in the street and wash and dry the pages for later reading. Douglass
ultimately gained his freedom by running away, but the opportunity for escape
came much earlier in his life. When he was faced with escape earlier he refused
the opportunity because he wanted to learn how to write first.
The "vast majority of Negroes, slave and free, grew old and died with very
little formal education or indeed any education at all" (Jordan, 1969, p. 133).
There were some occasions of free Blacks attending school with Whites, but
again these incidences were few. Prior to 1900 public funding for education was
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not available. Jordan concurred that most of the educational opportunities for
immigrants were provided within their communities, families, and churches.
Racial mixing, even for Blacks bom free, faced extensive objections from the
community. There was at least one case of legal action against a teacher who
taught Blacks in a predominantly White school. Other teachers refused to teach
Blacks when missionary groups suggested it. 'This exclusionary trend, if not
principle, stood out all the more sharply in a society which by European
standards was wide open to all comers" (Jordan, 1969, p. 134).
Many immigrant communities developed their own educational resources,
but without the ability to develop a strong community structure during the years of
slavery, African Americans had few of these resources. In addition to the
community schools, families also were a resource for education in the early years
of this country. Since so few Blacks were educated during slavery and families
were often fragmented, families were seldom a source of education. These
limitations in community and family resources further limited the early access to
education for Blacks.
John Berry Meachum (Anonymous, 1996; Anonymous, 1999; Fishkin,
1997; Holt, 1992; McMillen, 1996), a former slave, tried to address the problem of
educational access in 1847 by starting a school for slaves and freemen in St.
Louis in the basement of a church where he was the minister. This school ran
during a period when slavery was still part of the social structure. Meachum
bought his own freedom and was assisting others to purchase their freedom. A
law in the state of Missouri that prohibited the education of Blacks ended access
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to this educational program in the city of St. Louis. Meachum moved his school to
the middle of the Mississippi River, to Federal territory, and opened the first
known Freedom School.
Access to education for African Americans continued to be limited even in
freedom. During the period right after the war and the emancipation the former
slaves saw the growth in a governmental system that was sensitive to the needs
of the freedmen in the South. More than ninety-five per cent of the freedmen
were illiterate and during this time the federal government tried to rectify this
problem. Although federal funds were sent to Mississippi for public education
prior to this time, they were not used as intended. Blacks as well as poor Whites
grew up in ignorance (Meltzer, 1970).
Some schools for Blacks were run in secret prior to the Civil War. Those
slaves who had defied the rules against reading and writing were teaching others
whenever and wherever they could. These schools came out into the open and
new ones developed after emancipation and during reconstruction. White
teachers from the North taught in most of the schools opened after the Civil War
and most of these teachers were women from missionary groups (Armstrong,
1993; Jordan, 1969; Meltzer, 1970). The schools were funded by a poll tax levied
against the former slaveholders. These poll taxes and other negative sentiments
toward Blacks caused opposition to the development of schools (Meltzer, 1970).
This opposition was taken out on these teachers who were denied credit, not
allowed to live in White hotels or boarding houses, and later became the target of
the Ku Klux Klan. Teachers and students were terrorized and beaten. Churches
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and schools were burned. Many teachers were forced to ieave town because of
threats to their lives (Meltzer, 1970). Thus limited access to education continued.
Brown (1996) provides another view of the problems of access to
education. Brown interviewed and chronicled the life story of Septima Clark and
her quest for education. She was the daughter of a slave who spent a major
portion of his life caring for the children of his master. Part of that care was the
escorting of the children to school daily and waiting for them outside until school
was out, despite the weather. Her father was prohibited from accessing
education and never learned to read or write. In contrast Miss Clark's mother was
raised in Haiti where she was provided an education. The differing levels of
access to education again point out the contrasting treatment of Blacks in
America and other areas. Despite this treatment, both of her parents value
education. Miss Clark valued education and this was primarily due to the urging
of her parents.
Limited access after emancipation was shown by the number of schools
available to former slaves (Brown, 1996; Haskins, 1998; Meltzer, 1970; Walter,
1996) and the limited days African American children were allowed to go to
school. Although Black children greatly outnumbered White children in the state
of Mississippi, fewer schools were available to these students. Thus in
Mississippi fewer Black students were able to access education even when it
was made available through public education. Although the number of schools
increased, they were still inadequate for the need. An additional obstacle to
access was the continued responsibility and need for Black children to work in
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the fields. Schools were only opened when the children were not needed in the
fields to either plant or harvest crops. In many cases the time in school was
limited to three months (Brown, 1996; Meltzer, 1970).
The lack of access to education was not limited to getting basic education
but also encompassed access to an education that made African Americans
viable members of society. The NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund (LDF) had as one
of its primary focuses the access to adequate education for Blacks (Greenberg,
1994). They began by challenging colleges and universities for access to
professional schools. LDF began challenging the public school systems of the
country for access into these schools approximately fifteen years later.
The most notable of these cases was Brown v. the Board of Education in
Topeka, Kansas. The litigants in this case were bused across town to an
elementary school for Blacks when they lived within blocks of another school for
White children. The neighborhood school was superior to the school for Black
children. Brown versus the Board of Education was settled in 1954, and schools
were ordered to integrate the schools. Access to integrated schools continued to
be blocked for years to come.
In the period between emancipation and the civil rights movement the
battle for access moved from gaining adequate numbers of schools to providing
access to a full education. Walter (1996) noted many of the children in 1964 did
not have access to algebra, poetry, French, typing and other subjects common in
White schools, until the Freedom School began. The schools for Whites
continued to be far superior to those for Black children. Attempts were made to
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integrate White schools to gain access to the educational opportunities afforded
these students.
In 1957 one of the most noted efforts to integrate school was seen in the
case of Central High School in Little Rock (Beals, 1994). Beals’ account was not
limited to gaining access into Central High. For years prior to the efforts to gain
entrance to public schools that were limited to Whites, there were efforts to gain
access to the University of Arkansas. The author’s mother was active in the
struggle to get an education at the local university. She was a teacher who
wanted to get her master’s degree. She joined a group of others who also wanted
to gain access to the university and they were allowed to take classes but ”[a]t
that, they were attending extension classes but in a separate space set aside for
our people" (Beals, 1994, p. 12). Another account was also shared of a male
student who did gain access to the University of Arkansas law school. He was
allowed to attend the regular classes but "a white picket fence was erected
around his chair and desk... keeping him separate but equal" (Beals, 1994, p.
12).
Beals showed the immediate reaction to the Brown v. the Board of
Education case in Arkansas. On the day the Brown case was decided, instead of
an atmosphere of elation there was tension in the air, and all of the children in
the Black school were sent home early. Violence and threats of violence
escalated in the community, and Blacks were warned against any attempts to
integrate schools. Three years after the Brown decision, integration of Central
High School began. Persons resisting the integration of Central High came not
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only from the Little Rock community but some came "from as far away as
Mississippi, Louisiana, and Georgia to join forces to halt integration" (Beals,
1994, p. 42). Access to the all White Central High was a threat to the status quo.
Governor Faubus called the National Guard in to surround the school to prevent
its integration. Access in the form of integration came with the help of military and
at the personal and emotional expense of the nine young people and their
families who were involved in the integration of Central High School.
The incident in Little Rock did not settle the problem of access through
integration. In 1975 Alvin Chambliss, Jr., a civil rights attorney in Mississippi
began a battle for access that has lasted more than twenty years (Chambliss,
1995; Roach & Fields, 1997). Ayers v. Fordice began as a suit over the
perceived discrimination that existed in Mississippi. Chambliss worked for the
North Mississippi Rural Legal Services when the case began. The premise of the
case revolved around the poor quality of public education received by African
Americans in the state. In addition to the poor public school for Blacks,
Mississippi's predominantly White colleges and universities set their admissions
requirements so high that no Blacks were able to attend. The Supreme Court
found that discrimination in education continued to exist in Mississippi and
required the admission requirements be lowered.
The decision was appealed, which resulted in a ruling that three of the
Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) in the state also match the
new admissions requirements. This change in admissions requirements was a
move that was expected to lower the freshmen admission rate by 55-60% in the
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HBCUs. When the 1997 article appeared inBlack Issues in Higher Education the
case was stili under appeal.
Equality.
The second area of the educational review is the equality of the education
afforded African Americans. Both written and unwritten laws that governed
education helped to sustain the inequality of the school system for Whites and
African Americans during the late 1800 and early 1900. The question of
segregation and equal schools in Mississippi was raised as early as 1872. The
reconstruction government did not develop a written policy that mandated
segregation of schools, but the sentiment of the times led to the separate
schools. "In Yazoo County, for instance, where there were 2180 whites of school
age and 4183 blacks in 1872, the school board had established only twenty-five
schools for blacks and given forty-one to the white children" (Meltzer, 1970, pp.
126-7). After three years of struggle and protest, the schools for Blacks in Yazoo
more than doubled. Even after the increase in educational facilities Blacks were
only able to attend school when they were not needed in the fields, or about
three months a year (Brown, 1996; Haskins, 1998; Meltzer, 1970).
Brown (1996) also provided an extensive view of the separate and
unequal education prior to the civil rights movement. During Clark’s early years of
education in Charleston, South Carolina, Blacks were not permitted to teach in
public schools. Clark began her education in a small two-room private home
where there were two teachers and two classes, one for the younger children
and the other for the older children. At the age of seventeen Miss Clark left home
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and became a teacher in one of the Black schools off the coast of South
Carolina. Many of the same inequalities faced by Clark in her youth were still
present at when she became a teacher. The schools for African American
children were usually one-room facilities that were so poorly constructed that you
could see straight through the building (Brown, 1996, Meltzer, 1970). The
inequities of the schools went beyond the school edifices that failed to protect
against the elements, to hand-me-down books, and finally to educational
programs that could only run when the students were not required to work in the
fields. This poor education resulted in many of the adults being illiterate or semi
literate.
Prior to the Civil War, free Blacks in Boston asked for education for their
children comparable to that provided for White children. The Boston Black
community charged that the schooling given their children in public schools was
inferior (Haskins, 1998; Zinn, 1990). They boycotted the schools and later sued
in the courts to abolish separate schools for Blacks. This example on unequal
education occurred in 1843, but there are several other examples of complaints
of poor education prior to this case and after. Inequality in the education provided
to Black communities continued through 1987 (Haskins, 1988; Kozol, 1992; Zinn,
1990,1994). Another example of unequal schooling occurred when the orders to
desegregate schools came in the 1960s. Instead of attending integrated schools
many communities developed private academies for Whites only. White parents
were required to pay tuition but public funds were also diverted to support the
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private academies. Pubiic schools, which were under funded, became the
domain of Blacks only, and unequal education continued (Haskins, 1998).
Segregated neighborhoods and schools in the North matched the
separate private schools in the South. Schools in the 1960s used property taxes
as the primary source for financing education. This system of funding schools
according to the tax base of the community was challenged in 1972 but the
predominantly conservative courts refused to rule against this method of funding
public schools that was inherently unequal. 'That meant that in poorer areas,
lower property taxes produced less money for schools. The disparity was
especially evident in areas where predominantly white, affluent suburbs
surrounded increasingly black and Latino inner cities" (Haskins, 1998, p. 156).
Property tax continues to be the way most school districts are funded (Comer,
1995, 1997; Hale, 1994; Kozol, 1992).
Jonathan Kozol (1992) viewed several inner city schools and provided
insight into the educational system to show the continual inequalities and
differential spending that was now primarily based on the property taxes of the
community. Many examples of these inequalities are provided but one of the
most poignant was found in East St. Louis, Illinois. This city was made up of a
predominantly Black population that came from the South to work for the railroad.
East St. Louis in the early 1900s was the second largest railroad center in the
nation. When Blacks came for jobs in 1917 they were used as strikebreakers,
which prompted a major race riot. By 1930 the railroad and other industry in the
town that employed Blacks left. No consistent source of employment remained in
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the town, in the late 1980s a major portion of the population lived below the
poverty level. Two major chemical plants are now on the edge of town, but the
land where they are located was incorporated separately from East St. Louis.
East St. Louis begins outside the gates of the Monsanto plant.
The schools in East St. Louis were compared to those in their neighboring
town, Fairview Heights. East St. Louis schools are poorly funded, although the
city has the highest property tax rate in the state in 1989. The schools are poorly
maintained; teachers are underpaid when compared to other areas in the state;
student supplies are inadequate and in short supply. In addition to these
problems and many others related to the facilities and supplies of the schools the
children must also deal with malnutrition, chemical waste and connected
diseases, and other health problems associated with being poor. The school
district in East St. Louis is the second poorest and one of the poorest performing
in the state. In contrast the high school in Fairview Heights is one of the best in
the state. Its population is predominantly White and middle to upper class. The
equipment and supplies are state of the art.
Comer (1988) also studied the educational policies that shaped and
supported the under-education of generations of African Americans. "In the
1930s, in the eight states that held 80% of the Black population, four to eight
times as much money per person was spent on the education of white children
as Black, and some twenty-five times in areas that were disproportionately Black"
(Comer, 1988, p. 214).
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The educational inequities in funding were not limited to the facilities given
Blacks. The inequity also included the salaries of those who taught in the
schools. This was true with the first public schools for African Americans and
continues in many places today (Brown, 1996; Haskins, 1998; Hickerson, 1966;
Kozol, 1992; 1995).
More recent thoughts on educational inequalities were the topic of the Fall
1995 issue of Daedalus: Journal of the American Academy of Arts and Science.
The entire journal, which was entitled "American Education; Still Separate, Still
Unequal," focused on several inequities that continue to exist within the school
system. This journal was written in response to the U. S. Department of
Education's report, A Nation At Risk (U. S. Department of Education, 1993),
which noted that the United States was losing its once-secure position of
leadership in the world. The problems with education were a primary cause for
this slip in leadership. It was noted, "if an unfriendly foreign power had attempted
to impose on America the mediocre educational performance that exists today,
we might well have viewed it as an act of war" (U. S. Department of Education,
1993, p. 1). The indicators cited that led to poor education included poor
performance on standardized tests, illiteracy, performance below other
industrialized nations, a decline in performance on College Board tests, and
decline in math and science achievement. All of these problems and more were
present in a time when the world was becoming increasingly technical.
Daedalus asks and seeks to answer questions about the American
educational system.
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Has the "separate and equal" myth that once justified racial segregation in
the South been replaced by a 'separate and unequal' reality that imposes
insidious distinctions and creates vast injustices in almost every part of the
country? Is this the fundamental weakness of the American system of
education that claims to be concerned with equity? Or, is it also that
events in the country and the world since 1983 call for the reconsideration
of a set of educational objectives and policies formulated during the first
years of the Reagan administration? Are there new conditions — one
forbears to call them "crises" - that the Nation At Risk, failed to
anticipate? The answer to all of these questions must be an emphatic
"yes." (Graubard, 1995, p. VI)
Holton and Goroff (1995) encapsulated all of the writings in this edition of
Daedalus as they looked at the direction education in America was heading. The
authors note, "in the United States at this moment the political debate, at least as
seen from Washington, revolves around the question of whether all children can
be educated to a high standard" (Holton & Goroff, 1995, p. 1). Several aspects of
this debate are reviewed including the economic considerations, parental
attitudes, the teacher’s role and responsibility, discrimination, expectation and
equity. The problems include inequality between urban, suburban and rural
schools, those with overwhelming minority populations, and, even more, between
social class and race. Income is one of the greatest determinants as to where a
person will go in education.
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Houston (1995) viewed school reform as it reiates to the context of
schools. He found that the context of a school is a great determinant of the
conditions and problems that are present in that school. The conditions in many
schools in this country are horrendous, especially for those who live in the inner
city and rural communities. 'The poverty rate for the children is increasing
dramatically: more than one in five children is now living in poverty. America's
child poverty rate is three times the average of other industrialized countries"
(Houston, 1995, p. 170) and this is primarily in rural and inner city areas where
predominantly minorities exist. Poverty has implications for all areas of life
including health, school readiness and environment. Houston goes beyond the
need for equality in schools and calls for equity, which includes not expecting
less from those who are having difficulty and recognizing that they can perform
with support. School reform must look at the whole person in the environment.
Within the same Daedalus (Graubard, 1995) publication Resnick, Howard,
Robinson and Holton and Goroff all investigate the problem of expectation and
assumptions as they relate to the equality of education. The assumed ability of
the student or population plays an essential part in the expectations of the
teachers or society. Resnick explores three "aptitude-oriented educational
system" (p. 56) perspectives. The first perspective views ability in school as
linked to heredity and distinguishes children as naturally able or less able. Using
this assumption, programs are developed for children that are suitable to their
talents. This assumption was widely used in the early part of this century when
public schools began, and continues today. The second notion about education
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and learning is the compensatory principle, which holds that special effort can
overcome low aptitude. The use of this assumption about learning prompts the
educational system to pull students out of regular classes to provide that special
assistance. Unfortunately the students who are pulled out of classes are not
given exposure to the challenges of a regular curriculum. Resnick feels students
would gain more by being left in the regular classes with pullout classes provided
after school. The third belief about learning and aptitude assumes that effort
actually creates ability; thus, by challenging students they increase their ability to
learn. The third option is rarely adopted by the educational system. The
inequality is based upon the fact that more students of color and persons living in
poverty are considered to have lower aptitudes. The resources and classes in
schools reflect the assumptions about the abilities of the students. 'The system is
a self-sustaining one in which hidden assumptions are continually reinforced by
the inevitable result of practices that are based on those assumptions" (Resnick,
1995, p. 57).
Howard (1995) reviewed the belief that "intelligence is an innate
endowment, fixed at birth and unequally distributed, setting the upper limits on a
child's prospects for learning" (Howard, 1995, p. 86). This premise has existed
for generations, but the most recent proponents are Hermstein and Murray
(1994) in The Bell Curve. They support the placement of children in groups
where they have curriculum that matches their innate ability. Howard noted that
Lewis M. Terman, H. H. Goddard, and Robert M. Yerkes postulated this same
philosophy earlier in the century. This idea was adopted as part of the
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educational system at that time and continues today. Again those who are poor
or members of minority groups are inordinately represented in this group and are
considered marginal parts of society because of their own shortcomings. 'This
idea took hold because it explained social ills . . . in a manner that absolved
society from responsibility . . . and it provided a workable rationale for economic
inequality" (Howard, 1995, p. 86).
Robinson (1995) began her exploration of education with a comparison of
children's learning to bird's flying. She states that children are "learning
machines" (Robinson, 1995, p. 135). Many of these learning machines are turned
off by the very system that should energize them because of low expectations.
Expectations dictate the nature of the educational system. "Abundant evidence
now refutes the assumption that large segments of America's student population
(e.g., blacks, Hispanics, students with limited English proficiency, the disabled,
and students attending inner-city schools) lack the capacity to master complex
material, meet lofty goals, or excel in schools that offer rich curricula and
competent instruction" (Robinson, 1995, p. 135). Despite research by the Office
of Educational Research and Improvement of the U.S. Department of Education,
the ongoing belief of many educators and policy makers continues to reflect the
low expectations of certain groups held for generations.
Education in America has long been infected by a covert form of elitism.
For far too many students the curriculum has become an educational
ghetto. These students have been denied the opportunity to succeed
because they have been denied the opportunity to be challenged. The
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tyranny of low expectations enslaves the mind and imprisons potential.
(Robinson, 1995, p. 138)
Children subjected to this unequal education are then relegated to a lifetime of
underachievement and second-class citizenship. An ever-downward spiral
begins for this population that is educational and also financial, political, and
health related.
Holton and Goroff (1995) took a strong stance on expectation with a
specific emphasis on the role of teachers. They note,
Patrick O'Rourke, President of the Hammond Teacher’s Federation in
Indiana, recalling his own thirty years as a teacher, insisted on a truth no
one disputed: "there is a direct relationship between learning in the
classroom and how kids feel about themselves, about being there, about
how the teacher relates to them." (Holton & Goroff, 1995, p. 14)
Confidence and performance in school is closely related to the effort of a student,
and that effort is also greatly related to the belief that one can achieve a goal. If
teachers believe a child has limited learning ability or is unable to leam, it is
reflected in the way they relate to that child. Equality in schools is also a
reflection of the belief in the ability or inability of students.
Latanision (1995) explores the ideas of equality and the economics of
education. The long-standing inequality in spending on education expressed by
Hale (1994), Haskins (1998), Kozol (1992), and others is repeated by Latanision.
The author notes that "there is no way that a community that spends $12,000 per
student annually and one that spends $2,000 per student annually will provide
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the same educational environment" (Latanision, 1995, p. 147). Sizer (1995) also
expresses views about the inequality of spending on education. The differential
spending is blatant across this nation. Sizer contrasts the spending between
several communities, including differential spending between Lake Forest and
Chicago, and between Scarsdale and Harlem. Equality in education is not
possible where such inequalities exist, whether it is inequality in spending,
believed aptitude, or other aspects of education.
Content.
Educational content is viewed from two different perspectives, the formal
curriculum and the informal life lessons. The formal curriculum is the most
apparent when content is discussed. These are the core teachings that are
provided in the classroom setting. The teaching of Blacks went beyond the
curriculum content in the class to lessons that were taught by the actions of the
teachers and the environment of the school and the community. Those lessons
taught in the environment and through life experiences often had as great, if not
a greater, impact on the students than that imparted by the formal curriculum.
The content of the education received by Blacks taught them to despise
themselves. The educational system "followed the traditional curricula of the
times which did not take the Negro into consideration except to condemn or pity
him" (Woodson, 1993, p. 17). African Americans were taught to value all other
cultures more than their own and were taught nothing of their own. Education did
not address the needs and concerns of the Black community. Woodson viewed
the content of the education as a way of assuring that African Americans stayed
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in their place. Blacks were not exposed to curricula that would aiiow them to
adequately function in society at the time. As the industrial age developed, the
Blacks of that time received little exposure to the education needed to compete in
the coming age.
Most of the initial teachers of Blacks were White, but also during the
period when Woodson wrote there was a growing number of Blacks who
received an education and became educators. Although in the early schools
there was a growth in the number of teachers, both Black and White, Woodson
had few positive comments to make about either group. He did commend those
teachers who believed and taught that the only way to elevate a people was to
teach them how to help themselves. He noted, though, that most teachers
"thoroughly demonstrated that they have no useful function in the life of the
Negro" (Woodson, 1993, p. 26). The educators of African Americans usually had
less education than that required for other schools. This disparity was seen at all
levels of education, including the colleges. During Woodson’s time there were
some colleges with mixed faculty, both Black and White. Within these colleges
there was differential treatment of the Black instructors that often reinforced the
status quo, because Black faculty members were not afforded the same
privileges as their White counterparts. Black and White faculty members were not
allowed to attend the same faculty functions; although there was some cordiality
on the campuses, African American faculty members were often shunned in
public. African American students were often treated like servants on the college
campus developed to educate them. The Black students were required to enter
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the homes of their professors and some of the buildings through the back doors
(Woodson, 1993).
Woodson was not alone in his criticism of the content of college education
for African Americans. Others were embroiled in a dispute not only over the
content taught by White educators but also that taught by Black educators. There
was an ongoing dispute about content that was exemplified by an interchange
between Washington (1896) and DuBois (1902). Washington encouraged Blacks
to stay on the farm where they were needed. He encouraged them to learn more
about the land and farming which would make them indispensable to the
communities where they lived and accepted for that value. He discouraged
academic education because it caused more animosity within the community. In
contrast DuBois was a proponent of an academic education equal to that of other
Americans. He felt Washington’s plan assured Blacks a continual life of second-
class citizenship. Woodson, Washington and DuBois each sought ways to make
a place in society for Blacks through education. Washington's view brought him
into favor with most Whites during this era and netted him several speaking
engagements, including the Atlanta Exposition and the White House.
By the end of his life, Booker T. Washington himself had begun to
question the wisdom of his compromise. In the twenty years since his
Atlanta Exposition speech, he had enjoyed the position of the most
powerful and influential black man in America. He had advised business
leaders and politicians and scholars. He had counseled presidents. He
had been the first Negro to have dinner with a president at the White
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House. But even he had not been allowed to be a man. (Haskins, 1998,
pp. 74 - 75)
Septima Clark (Brown, 1996) also spoke of the content of education for
Blacks, found both in the classroom and their living environment. Clark attended
a private school that charged tuition until she reached the fourth grade at which
time she moved into the public school system. The public school system was
Clark's first experience with White teachers. White teachers did not like teaching
the Black students and it was made apparent to the students they taught. She
noted "they didn't like for black children to speak to them in the streets; I guess
they didn't want other people to know they were teaching blacks. They were
embarrassed to be teaching black children, and they would have you whipped”
(Brown, 1996, p. 99). Clark worked to change the relationship between teacher
and child. She stated “I felt that it was a disgrace to have children whipped just
because they said ‘How you do, Miss Gibbs?’ or whoever the teacher was”
(Brown, 1996, p. 100).
Litwack (1999) provided extensive information on the control of
educational content in Black schools and universities that extended into the
twentieth century. Few high schools were available for Blacks and the schools
taught fewer courses than their White counterparts. Litwack noted that
Following the lead of other southern cities, Augusta, Georgia, in 1911
chose to reduce school work for black children and stipulated that only
industrial training would be offered them in the eighth and largely in the
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seventh. That would make it almost impossible for any black child to
prepare for high school work in public schools, (p. 58)
This limitation of content also limited educational access. The funding for Black
schools came with stipulations attached. Litwack also noted that the only history
taught Blacks "made a virtual gospel of the superiority of Anglo-Saxons and
northern Europeans .. .What little they learned of their own history consisted of
disparaging caricatures of black people as the least civilized race -irresponsible,
thoughtless, foolish, childlike people, satisfied with their lowly place in American
life, incapable of self-control and self-directed" (Litwack, 1999, p. 71).
Teachers were discouraged from discussing social issues and the
problems of segregation because they were likely to encourage racial
antagonism. Members of the education board and philanthropic foundations
monitored Black schools to assure they were teaching acceptable classes for
Black students. W. E. B. DuBois was told to change the way he taught political
science at Atlanta University because he was requiring abstract reasoning that
Blacks were incapable of using (Litwack, 1999). At Tuskegee Institute, Booker T.
Washington was told to add content that would make his school more attractive
to the Whites in the community. The suggested classes included training as
domestic servants and children's nurses, two jobs that were lacking since the end
of slavery (Litwack, 1999). Slater Industrial and State Normal School came under
criticism because the motto adopted by one of their graduating classes was
written in Latin. "After investigating the incident, the president of the Board of
Trustees thought the school should not have to suffer because of the 'smart-Alex
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' act of one class or 'foolish advisor'" (Litwack, 1999, p. 85). This statement was
made after all of the unacceptable content was taken out of the curriculum of the
school. Another example given that showed the control of content was the
changing of the name of Alcorn University to Alcom Agricultural and Mechanical
College. Litwack stated that Mississippi changed the name of the college so
there would be no question about what the content was expected to be. Litwack
gives these and several other examples of restricted content. The general
philosophy during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, especially in
the South, was to give Blacks the right kind of education, but also not to
overeducate them.
The differential education provided for African Americans during the early
years of public education was a precursor to what later became known as
tracking.
Laws.
Laws against the education of African Americans originated during the
early years of slavery. As sentiments against slavery grew the laws tightened
even more. 'The laws against teaching slaves to read and write grew out of a
variety of fears, the simplest of which concerned the forging of passes by
potential runaways. The argument expressed with greatest agitation concerned
the dangers of incendiary literature. Proslavery ideologues . . . thought that only
madmen would risk having their slaves read abolitionist pamphlets" (Genovese,
1975, p. 561). In some areas laws were passed not only against teaching Blacks
to read but also against selling them any written material. Slave uprisings such
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as the Nat Turner revolt further strengthened laws against educating Blacks.
Laws in states like Alabama and Missouri grew directly out of this slave revolt.
Illegal schools run by free Blacks and some Whites grew out of these restrictions
despite the risk of punishment. Literacy among slaves grew in many areas
regardless of these laws with the exception of the large plantations of the Black
Belt in the Deep South. There were even incidences of slaveholders or their
family members who taught slaves to read despite the laws (Genovese, 1975).
A current insight into the education of Blacks in America is gained by
looking at other laws governing the education and other areas of life through the
late 1980s. Greenberg (1994) analyzed many of the cases handled by the
NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund beginning in the 1930s. One case,
the Plessy v. Ferguson case in 1896, laid the initial groundwork for laws dictating
education for Black Americans for almost 70 years. The decision made by the
Supreme Court in this case established the legal doctrine of "separate but equal"
services, including education, for African Americans. Despite the Fourteenth
Amendment this ruling gave states "the power to require segregation.” The
Plessy case upheld a Louisiana law that segregated railroad cars. The judges
said that “in the nature of things” the Fourteenth Amendment could not have
been intended to “abolish distinctions based upon color, or to enforce social, as
distinguished from political, equality, ora coming together of the two races upon
terms unsatisfactory to either” (Greenberg, 1994, p. 57). Although the ruling
pertained initially to the integration of railroad cars, it expanded to all facets of life
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for Blacks, especially in the South. The justices in this decision went further to
say that if Blacks felt inferior because of segregation it was a choice they made.
Many of the subsequent cases brought to trial by the NAACP were in
response to the Plessy v. Ferguson ruling. The most notable of these cases was
Brown v. Board of Education. The “separate but equal” decision of the Plessy
case allowed for separate, but in no way equal, provision of education.
Greenberg reported that in 1940 throughout the South less than half the
expenditures for White students were spent on Blacks. This inequality continued
through the mid-1960s and in some cases continues today (Kozol, 1992).
Expenditures on the physical buildings used for schools as well as texts, supplies
and libraries, continued to fall far below the norm in areas dominated by people
of color. Brown v. Board of Education addressed the educational system in
Topeka, Kansas where Black children were bused to a school miles away from
their homes even though there was a better school within their neighborhood that
served Whites only. The Brown Case was ruled upon in 1954 and outlawed the
segregation of schools. In contrast to the Plessy decision that stated that
segregation did not cause a sense of inferiority, Brown found that it in fact did
generate a feeling of inferiority. The Brown decision destroyed the foundation on
which the Plessy decision was based and also “laid the foundation for the civil
rights movement, and revolutionized the notions of what courts, lawyers, and the
law might do to expand racial justice” (Greenberg, 1994, p. 116). Although Brown
v. Board of Education was decided in 1954 the courts did not insist upon an
immediate change in the educational system; instead the courts said that
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integration should occur “with aii deiiberate speed.” Change did not occur untii
after the civil rights movement.
Haskins (1998) also looked at the laws governing separate education for
Blacks. He noted that the final decision in the Brown v. Board of Education
actually was a decision pertaining to cases in four different states. In addition to
the Brown case the decision also pertained to Briggs v. County Board of
Education in Clarendon County, South Carolina, Belton v. Gebhart and Bulah v.
Gebhart, two cases in Delaware, and Davis v. County School Board of Prince
Edward County in Virginia. Another case, Bolling v. Sharp was also being
decided at the same time, but it was separated out because it pertained to
Washington, D.C. and not a state. The initial cases brought to trial by the NAACP
all pertained to colleges, while these cases looked at the earlier schooling of
children. They all addressed the disparity in spending, facilities and most other
aspects of education for Blacks. The five cases were consolidated because they
all dealt with “minors of the Negro race” and state laws (Haskins, 1998, p. 135).
The Brown decision required a review of intent of the Fourteenth
Amendment as it specifically related to education to determine whether Plessy
violated the amendment. Public education was in its infancy stage when Plessy
v. Ferguson was decided, so it was not known how much consideration was
given to it. Beyond looking at the Fourteenth Amendment when it was adopted, it
was also looked at in the context of the social structure in 1954. The question
was whether the Fourteenth Amendment was meant to prohibit all forms of state-
imposed racial discrimination. The final decision in the cases that constituted the
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Brown case was read on May 17,1954 but implementation was delayed. The
delay in implementation was partially caused by two opposing views on what
should occur. The first view was that implementation should occur immediately.
The second view was that immediate implementation would cause civil unrest,
and each state should determine the speed of implementation. The decision was
to follow the more cautious view, with each state determining the implementation;
thus the concept of “with all deliberate speed” was adopted.
Freedom School.
The term Freedom School is embedded in the history of Black America.
The term is applied to at least two generations of Freedom School that are the
main emphasis of this research. A third generation, which actually predated the
programs that are the subject of this research, was also found. Freedom Schools
were and are alternative or supplemental education programs that developed in
the African American communities to combat educational deficits. Freedom
School programs specifically addressed the systemic educational problems such
as the lack of educational opportunities, inequalities, and underachievement
imposed upon African Americans during different times in American history.
The first Freedom School program had its origin in St. Louis in the mid
1800s, soon after a law was passed in Missouri in1847 that prohibited the
education of Blacks. The founder of the first Freedom School program was John
Berry Meachum, a former slave who bought his own freedom (Anonymous, 1996;
Anonymous, 1999; Fishkin, 1997; Holt, 1992; McMillen, 1996). Meachum initially
began educating slaves in the basement of his church, the oldest Black church in
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St. Louis, the First African Baptist Church. Meachum's initial school was called
the Candle Tallow School; when the law was passed prohibiting the education of
any Black in the state of Missouri, free or slave, he had to move the school.
Meachum moved his school into the middle of the Mississippi River, which was
subject to federal law instead of state law and continued to teach Black students
by shuttling them out to the boat and holding classes there (Fishkin, 1997; Holt,
1992; McMillen, 1996). The issue of education of African Americans loomed high
as a way of distinguishing Blacks from all other immigrants. Education in many
instances was restricted if not totally denied.
Again, the focus of this study is the CDF/BCCC program but since it is so
integrally related to the SNCC program the two programs must be explored
together. The literature review on the Freedom School, both the 1964 and the
1992 programs, focuses on the immediate social, political, and educational
settings of the times. Most of the aforementioned social issues existed prior to
the 1964 Freedom School program, and they all influenced the program’s
development. The effect of persistent discrimination integrally related to the
shaping of the pre-Civil Rights and pre-Freedom School environment. This
section of the literature review focuses on the environment more directly related
to the 1964 Freedom School program, which operated in Mississippi. A review of
the changes that transpired between the 1964 and 1992 Freedom School is
completed with a specific emphasis on the environment directly related to the
1992 program.
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The 1964 Freedom School program developed in the midst of the turmoil
of the Civil Rights movement and was one of the many projects operated by
SNCC. The program was developed to provide an enriched education for Blacks
in Mississippi. Blacks and Whites were prohibited from attending the same
schools in most southern states; the philosophy of "separate but equal"
supported and maintained this system that was inherently unequal. This
prompted the development of community-based programs to supplement that
education (Cobb, 1999; Dittmer, 1995; Chilcoat & Ligon, 1999; McAdam, 1988;
Morris, 1984; Payne, 1995,1997; Perlstein, 1990; Rothschild, 1982; Sitkoff,
1992).
The 1964 Mississippi Project was not SNCC's first experience with
Freedom School. Earlier, in 1961, SNCC was active in McComb, Mississippi with
voter's education and registration. Six Black high school students who were too
young to vote decided to participate in a lunch counter sit-in in support of SNCC.
Although these students attended a Black school they were expelled as a result
of the demonstration. Over one hundred more students walked out of the school
when the six students were refused re-admittance. SNCC developed an
alternative school for these students called "Non-Violent High." This school ran
until all of the SNCC staff was jailed for contributing to the delinquency of minors
(Perlstein, 1990). The SNCC workers had also participated in the Citizenship
School run by Highland Center in Tennessee and later by the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference that primarily worked on the education of adults for
voter’s registration. The Highland Center was one of the only places that
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provided joint education for Blacks and Whites in the South (Brown, 1996;
Perlstein, 1990). SNCC was also involved in an earlier Freedom School.
In planning the 1964 Summer Project, SNCC also looked at Freedom
Schools that had run earlier in the 1960s. They examined materials from northern
cities, such as Chicago, New York, and Boston, where school boycotts had been
organized to protest de facto segregation and school conditions. SNCC found
another prototype in Prince Edward County, Virginia. A number of Freedom
Schools, staffed in part by New York City teachers, emerged there during the
summer of 1963, when the county board of education, which had been sued in
one of the cases decided in the 1954 Brown decision, closed the schools rather
than integrate them. (Perlstein, 1990)
Among the programs run by SNCC in 1964 and earlier, the Freedom
School program probably received the least respect and publicity. The lack of
publicity, recognition and respect for the Freedom School program stemmed from
the belief that it was less important than most of the other projects in which
SNCC was involved. The Freedom School did not involve direct confrontation,
like the lunch counter sit-ins or voter registration that was typical of the group and
did not involve the same level of risk. Another reason given for the lack of
recognition and value for the Freedom School program was that it was seen as
woman’s work (Payne 1995; 1997; Perlstein, 1990;). The planned influx of
college students provided a challenge for the SNCC workers to find places for
them to work. All of the students who came to Mississippi were given training and
warned about the dangers. The males did most of the direct confrontation of the
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sit-ins and voter registration while the females worked with the Freedom School,
which was thought to be a safer job.
An additional premise for the lack of recognition of the Freedom School
program was that it was preempted by the death of three civil rights workers,
James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwemer, who died while
checking the bombed-out remains of one of the proposed Freedom School sites
(Payne, 1995; Perlstein, 1990; Rothschild, 1982; Sitkoff, 1992). The three
workers were reported missing in the last few days of training of a primarily White
northern group of students who had volunteered to come to Mississippi for the
summer. The probability of their deaths was announced on the last day of
training, which set the tone for the summer project. The focus during the summer
of 1964 was on the violence and the potential violence that accompanied the
SNCC workers.
Two strongholds of segregation provided the greatest challenges to the
Civil Rights movement, Mississippi and Alabama. Of these two states Mississippi
presented the greatest challenges to equality in all facets of social life.
Mississippi led the southern states in the disenfranchisement of Blacks beginning
with the voting prohibitions in 1890. The system of segregation and
disenfranchisement continued into the 1960s and affected all social aspects.
Mississippi was one of the only states to have a government agency formed to
coordinate efforts to maintain White supremacy, the Mississippi State
Sovereignty Commission (Sack, 1998; Elliott, 1998). The Commission was
formed in 1956 in reaction to the Brown v. the Board of Education decision in
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1954 and their sole purpose was to prevent ail attempts to integrate Mississippi
and its sister states. These were the challenges Freedom School 1964 faced and
tried to combat.
Mississippi is where SNCC began and provided the arena for Freedom
School 1964. All attempts to integrate Mississippi prior to 1964 were met with
violence sufficient enough to repel most civil rights advocates. “Imprisonment
became commonplace, beatings became frequent” (Zinn, 1990, p. 447). Most of
the other civil rights groups were deterred but SNCC refused to be halted and
instead planned an all out attack in the summer of 1964 (McAdam, 1988; Morris,
1984; Payne, 1995; Sitkoff, 1992; Zinn, 1990,1994). Other civil rights groups
including NAACP, CORE and COFO supported the SNCC workers. Although the
other organizations supported the summer actions, SNCC provided all of the
workers. Programs sponsored by SNCC included voter registration, community
organizing, leadership training, and educational improvement.
Carson (1995) noted that the 1964 Mississippi Summer Project was the
brainchild of Bob Moses, but Charles Cobb developed the Freedom School
program. Carson identified the purpose and the inadequacies of the Mississippi
educational system for African American children in the following statement
The purpose of the Freedom School was "to provide an educational
experience for students which will make it possible for them to challenge
the myths of society, to perceive more clearly its reality, and to find
alternatives, and ultimately, new directions for action." As Cobb noted,
Blacks in Mississippi would have to overcome the accommodationist
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tradition that was a product of white oppression. "Here, an idea of your
own is subversion that must be squelched; for each bit of intellectual
initiative represents the threat of a probe into the why of denial. Learning
here means only learning to stay in your place. Your place is to be
satisfied—a "good nigger." (Carson, 1995, p. 110)
In addition to the development of an alternative education program, the Freedom
School also sought to develop community leaders that would be able to assume
the responsibilities after the SNCC workers left. A curriculum was developed in
the spring of 1964 that included academic subjects, contemporary issues,
cultural expression, leadership development, and the history of the Black
liberation movement and political skills. SNCC workers expected one thousand
young people to attend the Freedom School during the summer of 1964 but had
more than two thousand five hundred participants that included adults.
Sitkoff (1992) also studied the context in which the 1964 Freedom School
was developed. He noted that six years after the federal court order to
desegregate schools only 6% of the schools in the South had started
desegregation. "Not even a beginning had been made in Alabama, Florida,
Mississippi and South Carolina" (Sitkoff, 1992, p. 84). SNCC began with sit-ins at
lunch counters in 1961 but those sit-ins symbolized more than the desire to eat at
the lunch counter. Many of these students were in elementary and high school
when Brown vs. the Board of Education was decided in 1954. Most expected to
finish public school in desegregated schools, but there was no change in the
status quo. The lack of progress toward desegregation of the schools was as
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much a part of the demonstrations as anything else (Grant, 1998; Payne, 1995;
Sitkoff, 1992).
Walter (1996) noted that on January 22,1964 SNCC held a Freedom Day
Rally in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. During a planning meeting on January 21 the
plans for the Freedom School program and the other summer activities were
shared with the participants. The rally the next day for voter's rights was one of
the most successful activities to occur in Mississippi, since there was no mass
arrest and only one person was beaten. Soon after this rally, news of the summer
plans reached the governor of the state. A special session of the legislature was
called, and bills were passed to prevent the planned activities. "They hastily
passed bills that would curb further political activities by SNCC. For example, two
of these bills outlawed picketing public buildings; Freedom Schools were
prohibited; juveniles arrested for civil rights activities were to be treated as adults;
summer volunteers would not be allowed to enter the state . . . Bolstered by
these strict laws, cities prepared for what the South called 'an invasion’" (Walter,
1996, p. 128).
When the idea of the Freedom School continued to grow, people from all
over the nation were attracted. The Freedom School program attracted educators
who developed a curriculum specifically for this summer activity. This curriculum
included academic work, recreational and cultural activities, and leadership
development. One of the guiding principles of the school was flexibility in the
classroom, which meant they would not restrict who participated in the program
because of age. The curriculum also had content that was normal in White
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schools but absent in Black schools. "For the first time in a classroom setting,
many of these children were exposed to algebra, to poetry, to role playing, and,
most of all, to freedom of creative expression" (Walter, 1996, p. 143).
In addition to educators, health professionals, artists and actors also came
to Mississippi. The health professionals set up clinics that had not been
previously available in the state to provide basic health care for Blacks. Many of
the actors and other artists were connected to the Free Southern Theatre and
were known for their ability to motivate people to become politically active by
using drama. In total more than eight hundred volunteers, mostly college
students from the top colleges in the North came to the state. Although many of
the volunteers had worked in other parts of the South, "most of them had to
understand that Mississippi was unlike any place they had visited" (Walter, 1996,
p. 136).
Payne (1995) provided extensive information on the context of the
Freedom School program and the SNCC organization. The turmoil of the times
escalated during the six months to a year before the Freedom School of 1964.
The native Mississippians were becoming bolder in their demands, and the plans
for the summer project caused more unrest. During the summer and fall of 1963
COFO stepped up their voter’s rights activities first by encouraging the local
residents to file affidavits to have the right to vote. Many of the affidavits filed
were called invalid and the registrants were unable to vote in the regular election.
Second, COFO decided to hold a parallel election with their nominees. They
encouraged those who were able to vote in the official election to write the
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nominees in and they set up ballot boxes for anyone else who wanted to vote.
During this parallel election eighty to ninety Yale and Stanford students came to
help. Their presence, because they were predominantly White, brought a level of
media coverage that had been absent in the two and a half years of work prior to
this time. Approximately eighty thousand people voted in the parallel election,
and the media coverage was very encouraging.
The success of the parallel election led to the idea of allowing more White
volunteers join the movement in the following summer. This change in strategy
caused a great deal of dissent in the ranks of the SNCC workers. Since these
workers were coming even if SNCC didn't want to work with them, the decision
was made to find jobs for the new volunteers. There was initial resistance
because those who had been working in Mississippi felt that the infusion of highly
educated White students would cause a shift in the leadership of the
organization. Charley Cobb envisioned the idea of the summer Freedom School
program when the agreement to allow this infusion of students to join the
movement was made. There were two reasons for the inclusion of the Northern
college students, first they drew more media coverage and second the national
attention given their presence brought more protection to the local residents and
SNCC activists.
COFO and the National Council of Churches sponsored a meeting in New
York in March 1964 to develop the curriculum for the program. Participants in this
meeting included SNCC members, persons active in the Citizenship Schools
such as Septima Clark and Myles Horton, other civil rights activists such as
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Bayard Rustin, and educators who were active in the earlier Freedom School
programs. Cobb proposed a curriculum that would integrate social activism, life
experiences of the participants, and class work. The curriculum included case
studies for the students to discuss, such as a component on the comparative
social reality of the Blacks and Whites in Mississippi. A Guide to Negro History
was developed to teach the children more about their history and to instill pride in
the participants.
The Freedom Schools were most successful in rural areas and urban
areas where the movement was prominent. "In urban areas with little movement
history and alternative ways for young people to spend their time, places like
Greenville or Gulfport, it was much more difficult for the schools to have an
impact" (Payne, 1995, p. 304). The exact number of Freedom School sites is
uncertain because the reports differ, but there were at least forty-one. The
Freedom School sites included Hattiesburg, Meridian, Shaw, Cleveland,
McComb, Palmer’s Crossing, Jackson, Gulfport, Holly Springs, Ruleville,
Mileston and Issaquena and Sharkey counties and many other communities in
Mississippi. Each site had its own distinct characteristic that reflected the area in
which it was located. Hattiesburg had a very active civil rights group in the
community and also had a very progressive program. Conversely, “McComb was
widely known as the most violently anti-civil rights town in the state. More black
churches were bombed in McComb than in any other area, and two blacks
associated with the movement had been murdered since . . . 1961. Every civil
rights worker in McComb had been beaten and jailed on more than one
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occasion” (Rothschild, 1982, p. 417). Initially no White volunteers were allowed to
go to McComb because it was too dangerous. When three volunteers were finally
allowed to go to McComb, they faced constant harassment from the anti-civil
rights forces. Programs in every area were developed to meet the needs and
address the climate of the community.
There is some indication that the Freedom School program lasted into the
fall of 1964 and the summer of 1965. At the end of the summer most of the
volunteers went back home. A few Freedom Schools continued into the fall of
1964 but they were not the same as the summer programs. The schools were
more politically inclined than they were during the summer. The students from
Issaquena and Sharkey counties who had participated in the Freedom School
program during the summer wore SNCC buttons their return to the public school.
When they were told that they would have to remove them or leave, the students
launched a boycott that lasted eight months. During the boycott the students
attended a school run by SNCC volunteers. The students didn’t return to school
until September 1965 but they were still not able to wear their SNCC badges
(Rothschild, 1982).
The McComb students also continued in the Freedom School in the fall
also. They also continued to face the denial of their rights and harassment.
During the fall one of the Black residents of McComb was killed in the Viet Nam
war. This prompted the Freedom School students to write a stance against the
war stating that Blacks should not fight in a war to obtain rights for the
Vietnamese, rights that they didn't have for themselves. They were one of the
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first civil rights groups to speak out against the war. SNCC printed the statement
on war in one of their newsletters, which was instrumental in developing the more
controversial view of the organization (Rothschild, 1982).
Payne (1995) surmised "looking back at the Freedom School with the
hindsight of the last three decades is disturbing. Of all the models generated by
the movement, it seemed tragic that this one, an institution specifically attentive
to the developmental needs of Black youngsters as a movement issue, was
accorded relatively little respect" (p. 305). For most of the volunteers the pace of
change prompted by the Freedom School was too slow. It was lost in the desire
to do something bigger and with immediate impact.
Later another similar program was developed and sponsored by the Child
Development Group of Mississippi led by Tom Levin, a psychoanalyst who had
been part of the Freedom School program. Levin planned to open a school that
included a preschool. The program did not come to fruition because at the same
time the Office of Economic Opportunity began the Head Start program (Payne,
1995).
There were several significant aspects of the 1964 Freedom School
program that differ from the current program. First the program was run primarily
in Mississippi where forty-one sites were in operation during the summer of 1964.
Second, the staff consisted mainly of volunteers from northern colleges who were
primarily White. The volunteers had to pay their own travel and housing
expenses and, if they were arrested, which was likely, they had to pay their own
legal expenses. This limited the volunteers to those who could afford the trip and
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other expenses. Finally, although the Freedom School volunteers attended two
weeks of training, much of the training had to focus on the culture of Mississippi
and means of protecting themselves. Most of the volunteers knew nothing about
Black history or the people they were going to work with (Payne, 1995).
SNCC suffered organizational strains during 1964 that almost led to the
demise of the organization. Most of the organizational stress revolved around the
volunteers brought in for the Freedom School. Internal stress developed among
SNCC members over their mission, purpose and activities. There was a split in
ideology, purpose and direction for the organization. Divisions developed over
whether SNCC should continue the direct confrontation of sit-ins or whether they
should be less confrontational and develop a voter registration program. The
decision was to take both directions simultaneously. These divisions, other
internal strife, and the violence SNCC sustained, especially in Mississippi, led to
the ultimate demise of the organization and the Freedom School program.
A split also grew over the large influx of White volunteers to the
organization even though their assistance was needed. The volunteers were
assets because they were able to afford to take the summer off and pay their
expenses while in Mississippi. They were also valuable because they called
attention to the problems; when they were arrested or hurt it was publicized. It
was not always the case when Blacks suffered the same fate (Carson, 1995;
Sitkoff, 1992). Bob Moses was struck and injured by a prominent Amite,
Mississippi resident. He filed assault charges. This was "the first time in Amite's
history, and probably Mississippi’s, that a black man legally contested the
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freedom of a white to beat him at will" (Sitkoff, 1992, p. 117). The assailant was
found not guilty. Thus the idea of beating Blacks was commonplace and drew
little attention, whereas the beating of Whites became front-page news.
The social, political and educational factors leading to the 1964 Freedom
School program were apparent but many changes occurred during the period
between the 1964 and 1992 programs. This researcher is interested in
determining what those changes were and how they led to the revitalization of
the Freedom School program. These social changes that occurred between the
times of the SNCC Freedom School in 1964 to the time of the CDF/BCCC
Freedom School program in 1992 were both positive and negative. A positive
social change was the growth of the Black middle class, but there was also a
negative change, a growing chasm between the middle class and the poor
population of Blacks in America. This dividing of the Black community was a
factor that motivated the development of BCCC. As a result of this class division
within the Black communities, dense pockets of poverty became more socially
isolated than ever before. The percentage of Blacks living in poverty was almost
unchanged, from 37% to 35% in 1967 and 1990 respectively (Bennett, 1992).
Although the percentage did not change, the number of Black families with no
earned income doubled between 1967 and 1990. The founders of BCCC in their
statement of purpose noted
Black children and families face one of the worst crises since slavery and
the African American community must take the lead in doing something
about it. Black children are poorer today than they were in 1968; are more
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likely to live in extreme poverty (less than $5,430 a year for a family of
three) than at any time since such statistics have been calculated; face a
greater infant mortality gap with White babies than in any year since 1940;
and are less safe than any time since slavery. (BCCC, 1993, p. 3)
Poverty and the accompanying social and educational problems provided the
context that spawned not only the development of the SNCC Freedom School
but also renewal of the CDF/BCCC Freedom School program. The SNCC
workers, founders of the 1964 Freedom School program, had one concern
regarding the changes that would come as a result of their struggle for freedom.
That concern was whether it was possible to build a freedom movement without
creating another source of oppression (Carson, 1995). The fear stated during the
1960s of another oppressor, possibly a greater oppressor, which was expressed
by members of SNCC, was manifested in the degree of poverty that now touches
so many lives of Black Americans and the separation of a once-united
community.
SNCC's concern about an even greater oppressor is characterized also by
the changes in the communities where poverty exists. Prior to the Civil Rights
movement of the late 50s and 60s the practices of segregation and discrimination
forced Blacks to remain in communities dominated by Blacks even when they
were able to make economic gains. Prosperous Blacks were restricted,
especially in the South, from moving into nicer neighborhoods and thus the Black
community was a heterogeneous community with differing levels of income. The
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presence of successful Blacks provided visible hope for the poor that they too
could progress (Hale, 1994).
The end of the many laws that enforced segregation also ended the
heterogeneity of these communities. Those Blacks who were prospering moved
into other communities and left the poor inner cities and rural areas without role
models. The breakdown of the heterogeneous Black community resulted in the
nihilistic threat so fervently expressed by West (1993). "Nihilism is to be
understood here not as a philosophic doctrine that there is no rational grounds
for legitimate standards or authority; it is far more, the lived experience of coping
with a life of horrifying meaninglessness, hopelessness, and (most important)
lovelessness. The frightening result is a numbing detachment from others and
self-destructive disposition toward the world" (West, 1993, p. 14). The despair
within the Black communities is often rationalized, ignored or minimized by most
people, especially those in power. Hopelessness, depression, personal
worthlessness and social despair are a result of the denial of the consequences
of the history and present state of Black America and are widespread in poorer
areas of Black America. The hope that motivated the movement in the 1960s in
the Black community is lost in the current generation.
A primary goal of today’s Freedom School is to “reconnect the Black
middle class and Black poor and rebuild the extended Black community family
that historically has provided a web of support and a lifeline of hope for Black
children” (Freedom School Manual, 1993, p. xiii). The many programs developed
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by CDF and BCCC consistently bring together those who have prospered and
those who are poor.
The overt discrimination of pre-Civil Rights America exists to a lesser
extent in most American communities today. That overt discrimination, though,
was replaced by injustices that are institutionalized (Hale, 1994; Kozol, 1992).
Institutionalized racism takes the form of policies and practices that keep the
poor, poor and the rich, rich. The educational system is one of the most poignant
examples of institutionalized racism. Mandated segregation ended, but in most
places physical segregation continues. The use of property taxes to determine
funding for education has assured the inequality of schools. With an
overwhelming number of African Americans living in poverty, neighborhood
schools are still under-funded. One example that illuminates the institutional
racism in schools is found in Kozol's book, Savage Inequalities (1992). The East
St. Louis, Illinois school district is one of the two poorest in the state. The state
and local policies have helped them to maintain this status. At one point in its
history, East St. Louis was a thriving city in need of the labor provided by Blacks.
African Americans who migrated there from southern cities were used primarily
as strikebreakers to replace many Whites in the area. Subsequent racial turmoil
in 1917 and the later relocation of most of the corporations in that city left the
town 98% Black without a financial source of subsistence. Large chemical plants
did locate in the area but they quickly incorporated as a city, population 200, and
thus avoided taxation in East St. Louis. Very few residents of East St. Louis now
are employed in the chemical plant. The only relationship the city has with the
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plant is that they provide an area for dumping waste matter and air pollution. The
health problems that plague the town are all related to the waste matter that
comes from the nearby plants. The policies and practices imposed upon this
town are examples of institutional racism that are detrimental to Blacks in
America (Kozol, 1992).
The town that boasts the chemical plant as a resident is one of the
wealthiest communities in Illinois, while the town that starts just outside the gates
of the plant is one of the poorest. The schools in the town that house the
chemical plant are some of the richest in the state, having the best physical
plants and highest paid teachers. The town just outside the gates of the plant is
one of the poorest with the worst physical facilities and the poorest paid teachers
(Kozol, 1992). Many Black youth are still working with books and supplies that
are substandard. The achievement level of Black youth continues to fall behind
that of White students. Health problems plague the youth of the town.
Hale (1994) supports the idea of institutionalized discrimination: "Racism
and social class discrimination have been so finely institutionalized in the society
that direct racism is not necessary. A system has been created that effectively
sorts people by race and class so that disadvantage is reproduced on its own,
generation after generation" (Hale, 1994, p. 127). Educational practices there
educate the rich and contain the poor. Despite a reluctance to spend money on
education, America is quick to spend money on incarceration (Hale, 1994; Kozol,
1992). The hopelessness and despair bom in our educational system is
contained in our prisons or ended by an early death.
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Parker (1997) compared the sociai settings and the young peopie served
in a 1994 Freedom School in Boston to those served in the 1964 Freedom
School program. There was one major difference found in the social setting of
the 1960s Freedom School that was not present in the 1990s. The 1990s began
without the hope and support that was present throughout communities in the
1960s. The presence of hope is an important aspect in the development of an
individual. Parker illuminated the condition of hope among today's Freedom
School students by stating "unable to see a more rational future through the eyes
of faith they lack hope that sustained their forebears. Lacking hope, their
experience was called 'social death'" (Parker, 1997, p. 7). Another difference
found between the populations of Freedom School participants in 1964 and today
is the types of stressors found in the community. In 1964 the issues were blatant
segregation and violence from external sources. In 1994 the underlying problems
in the community were much harder to identify, but the manifestation of the
problem was the violence perpetrated from within the community. Thus today's
Freedom School not only seeks to enhance the educational abilities of the
participants but also provide a safe haven for the children they serve. The current
Freedom School program addresses internal and external problems in the Black
community.
Many of the 1964 Freedom School volunteers spent much of their time
trying to relate to the students and community because of the difference in
ethnicity and culture (Carson, 1995). Today the majority of the interns come from
the Black Student Leadership Network (BSLN), a national collegiate-based
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organization, as well as college-aged students from the locai community, in 1998
BSLN was renamed the Student Leadership Network to allow for a broader
representation of participants although the members still are predominantly
Black. The problems experienced by student volunteers in the 1964 program no
longer exist and transition into the community is easier because of identification
with the participants.
Leadership
West (1993) expressed concern over the change in the nature of
leadership in the African American community from the years of the civil rights
movement to the post-civil rights era. The concern was over the quality of those
in leadership. West, one of the key supporters of the current Freedom School
program and a member of the Freedom School steering committee, expressed
concern regarding the growing separation within the African American community
between those who have prospered economically, socially and educationally and
those who have remained stagnant or slipped further behind during the post-civil
rights era. The middle-class in the Black community grew from 5% or less to
more than 25% between 1964 and 1993. Individual advancement in the Black
community previously depended upon the advancement of the collective. Today
an individualistic attitude replaces the collective attitude that was so instrumental
in facilitating previous advancements. Regarding this change in attitude West
noted
One reason quality leadership is on the wane in black America is the
gross deterioration of personal, familial, and communal relationships
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among African Americans. These relations-though always fragile and
difficult to sustain—constitute a crucial basis for the development of a
collective and critical consciousness and moral commitment to and
courageous engagement with causes beyond that of one's self and family,
(pp. 36-37)
Quality leadership, West further concluded, "comes from deeply bred traditions
and communities that shape and mold talented and gifted persons. Without a
vibrant tradition of resistance passed on to new generations, there can be no
nurturing of a collective and critical consciousness" (p. 37). The development or
revitalization of this leadership is a goal of Freedom School.
It is imperative that the leadership in the African American community
reasserts the collective attitude of the past to influence change in the current and
future generations. The collective attitude of the past was based on the concept
that a problem wasn’t only the individuals but affected the whole community and
was solved through community efforts (West, 1993). This collective sentiment is
encompassed in the ideas of both the Freedom School and BCCC, who are
stepping forward to assume a leadership role in the Black community in many of
these areas. BCCC (1995) concluded that
The crisis of Black families and Black children requires all responsible
civic, religious, professional, community, and nationwide effort to save the
Black family, to save the Black child, and to save for our country a rich
resource that has already done so much to make the country what it is
today and that can do so much to serve it in the future (pp. vii - viii).
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The CDF/BCCC coalition takes a multifaceted approach to addressing the
needs of the Black community. The approach includes programs to strengthen
community involvement with youth through mentoring and policy making. Another
program recognizes youth that have succeeded despite the seemingly
insurmountable odds against them. The CDF/BCCC Freedom School strives to
provide a safe and nurturing place for children to leam and socialize. The
CDF/BCCC leadership is closely related to and modeled after the leadership
present during the 1964 SNCC movement that included the Freedom School
program. CDF/BCCC participants are also active in a movement that is seeking
to make substantial changes in the community. Education, like the summer
movement in 1964, is only one of the avenues toward this change.
A key, but little known, personality was pivotal in the development of both
SNCC and the 1964 Freedom School program. This person was Miss Ella Baker.
Miss Baker is best described as a community activist and organizer. During a
time when neither Blacks nor women were prominent in leadership that is just
what Miss Baker did. Miss Baker's name is mentioned in many books on the civil
rights movement, but often very little is said about her. The leadership philosophy
embraced by SNCC and the Freedom School movement was that of Miss Ella
Baker (Carson 1995; Dallard, 1990; Grant, 1998; Payne, 1995; Sitkoff, 1992).
Grant (1998) provides the most encompassing picture of Miss Baker. Miss
Baker was bom in Norfolk, Virginia in 1903 and later moved to North Carolina
where she attended school and ultimately graduated from Shaw University in
Raleigh. At the time of Miss Baker’s graduation most young Black women who
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attended college became teachers. This was not the path Miss Baker desired to
take. After completing college Miss Baker moved to Harlem and pursued her
primary interests, the social and economic conditions of her community. She was
on the editorial staff of the American West Indian News and the Negro National
News as well as being a writer for several other newspapers. Miss Baker was
also on the library staff in Harlem where she founded the Hariem Adult Education
Committee, a group that worked against adult illiteracy in the community. She
was a founder and member of several of these groups that promoted the rights
and abilities of Blacks. She worked for many community organizations during her
early years in New York. These organizations included the Works Progress
Administration (WPA), the Sponsoring Committee of the National Negro
Congress (NNC), and the Young Negroes' Cooperative League (YNLC). Miss
Baker’s work with the YNLC took her beyond the Harlem community, especially
during the Depression. She traveled to different areas and helped community
members organize, identify problems and develop solutions that they could carry
out. This work with the YNLC was a precursor to Miss Baker’s work with the
NAACP. She initially worked as an advisor to the New York Youth Council of the
NAACP and later held the positions of Field Secretary and the Director of
Branches. Ella Baker worked on fundraising with the local leaders of NAACP
chapters. During the first six months of her employment membership and
fundraising increased greatly. Miss Baker’s tenure with the NAACP was very
successful, but her tenure with the organization was short lived, covering a time
period from 1941 until 1946. There were several areas where she disagreed with
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the organization’s policies. The organization was run in a top-down model. Ella
Baker constantly encouraged the leadership to let the community-based chapters
have more local control. She felt that work on community problems by the local
chapters would enhance their growth and be more beneficial to the national
organization. Unfortunately, the leadership of the NAACP felt that the
organization should continue to originate from the national office. This and other
organizational differences led Miss Baker to leave the NAACP in 1946 (Grant,
1998; Payne, 1995; Young, 1996;).
In addition to work with the NAACP, Miss Baker also worked with the
Urban League, SCLC, and the SNCC. Miss Baker’s greatest asset was her
organizational skills. Her primary ideas on leadership were the importance of the
group. "She . . . constantly fought to make the voice of the ordinary person heard.
She held firmly to the concept of group-centered leadership rather than a
leadership-centered group" (Grant, 1998, p. 6). She was an organizing force
behind the SCLC and later SNCC. Her relationship with the SCLC was short
lived because of her strong belief that leadership should not revolve around one
person; her belief was contrary to the actual functioning of the SCLC. SNCC
more readily adopted Miss Baker’s thoughts and theories. Although Miss Baker’s
name is not one well known from the civil rights era, she was a strong force
behind many of the activists and organizations during and before the 1960s
(Carson, 1995, Dallard, 1990; Dittmer, 1995; Grant, 1998; Payne, 1995; Sitkoff.
1992).
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In addition to Grant's (1998) extensive examination of Ella Baker, Miss
Baker was also mentioned in many books written about the civil rights
movement. Miller (1992) compared her to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by stating
that she, like King was an expert political strategist and organizer. Miller’s primary
focus was on Dr. King as a unique leader. Miller also compared the civil rights
movement to the freeing of the Jews from Egyptian slavery. King was viewed as
the "new Moses," a position very few people could fill. Miller referred to Ella
Baker and members of SNCC when stating that they "believed in highly
democratic, grassroots organizing and disdained the entire notion of a Moses-like
leader” (Miller, 1992, p. 171). Miller did not mention any of Baker’s work with
SCLC, which is felt by some to be a pivotal point in the organization.
Other authors who wrote on the leadership of the civil rights movement
also mentioned Miss Ella Baker. Washington (1991) mentioned Baker, although
his primary focus was on King. Miss Baker was acknowledged as the executive
secretary of the SCLC and a strong influence behind their support of SNCC.
Branch (1988), Payne (1995), Young, (1996), and many other authors’ books
about the civil rights movement echoed the same sentiments.
Branch (1988) explored the life and times of Miss Ella Baker. Miss Baker’s
time and work with the SCLC was fraught with turmoil. She initially worked as a
volunteer, then the executive secretary, and finally the "acting” executive director.
Baker's appointment to the position of acting executive director came after the
dismissal of her predecessor, John Tilley, who had led an unsuccessful voter’s
registration drive in Louisiana. Branch noted that Ella Baker was later squeezed
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out of the SCLC and went back to her home in New York, where she continued
her dedication to the movement. Although she was no longer working for the
SCLC Miss Baker left her home and tried to help salvage the drive. She was
placed in the position as executive director until they could find a minister with
the same dedication to the cause and organizational skills as those exhibited by
Baker. Although she agreed with the cause and work of the SCLC, Baker was
not in agreement with the structure. She felt it was a preacher’s fraternity that
rarely listened to the populace's opinion and sought individual recognition. She
was one of the few people to publicly disagree with Dr. King, which she did at a
student rally at Shaw University. Rev. Wyatt T. Walker later replaced her in the
position of executive director of SCLC. Walker said that Baker could stay on and
run the Atlanta office, as long as she knew that she was working for him. Branch
stated that most members of the SCLC saw her as no more than a glorified
secretary.
Young (1996) provided the most succinct reason for Ella Baker’s problems
working with the SCLC.
Initially, he [Dr. King] had asked Ella Baker, an NAACP organizer in
Georgia, to administer the office, but that had not worked out. These were
young Baptist preachers in their late twenties and early thirties. Ella Baker
was a determined woman and she reminded them of the strong Mommas
they were all trying to break free of. The Baptist Church had no tradition of
women in leadership roles, and the result was dissatisfaction all around.
Ella Baker was being asked to perform miracles with no staff, no money,
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began work with the students from the sit-in movement who had come
together at Shaw University in April 1960 to found the Student Nonviolent
Coordinating Committee (SNCC). (Young, 1996, p. 137)
Miss Baker’s work with SNCC was more successful. The age difference
between Miss Baker and the members of the SNCC organization was as great or
greater than the difference in SCLC, but these young people were more willing to
work with and take the advice of Ella Baker. Sitkoff (1992) discusses Baker’s
early involvement with the students in SNCC. Miss Baker felt there was room in
the movement for the more direct action, which is reflected in the following
statement.
She had spent most of her sixty years organizing for civil rights, and felt
that the SCLC and NAACP had not kept pace with the impatience and
aggressiveness that the students had injected into the movement. She
wanted young blacks to dare to go further, and so sought a structure and
direction for the student movement that would keep it both free from adult
fetters and disciplined enough to remain active and nonviolent. (Sitkoff,
1992, p. 91)
Grant (1998) explained Ella Baker’s importance in the development of
SNCC. In Miss Baker’s own words it is noted,
The chief emphasis I tried to make was their right to make their own
decisions . . . The only reason that I became relevant. . . was because I
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had lived through experiences and had had certain opportunities to gather
information and organizational experiences. (Grant, 1998, p. 125)
She was the strongest proponent of the group's independence during this time
when many of the more established organizations saw the student group as a
beneficial arm of their organizations or in need of the direction that their
organizations could give the students.
During the first meeting of SNCC Baker was able to get the financial and
moral support of Martin Luther King, Jr. and SCLC. Members of the NAACP,
which had lost many of their youth members to the group, and CORE, who did
not have an organizational foothold in the South, were also present. CORE saw
SNCC as a means of developing their presence in the South (Grant, 1998;
Payne, 1995; Sitkoff, 1992). Prior to the first meeting, Ella Baker had
corresponded with the leaders of her own group and other groups who were
planting the seed for the independence of the students.
Student delegates came from almost sixty communities in the South and
several colleges in the North. Prior to the student involvement in the civil rights
movement, litigation was the primary mode of action taken by most of the other
groups. The students took the movement to another level, direct confrontation.
The student movement started spontaneously for most of the groups involved.
Ella Baker brought together many of these student activists from different areas,
as well as representatives from several established civil rights organizations. The
purpose of this first weeklong meeting was to help the students develop a more
organized plan of action and to develop leadership skills. A second meeting
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following that included a delegation from the student group, Miss Baker, and a
member of CORE. The students decided to maintain their independence from the
other organizations. Ella Baker acted as an advisor to the organization. She
helped SNCC through hard times when the continued viability of the organization
was threatened. When a debate had developed over the continued direction of
the organization, Ella Baker took a position as negotiator between the different
factions. She made suggestions, while still allowing them to come to their own
solution. “SNCC formally adopted Ella Baker’s suggestion of two divisions within
the organization: Direct Action Projects led by Diane Nash, and Voter
Registration headed by Charles Jones” (Sitkoff, 1992, p. 116). Carson (1995)
and Payne (1995) note that SNCC would probably not have survived its first
summer without the involvement of Ella Baker.
Miss Baker trained June Stembridge and Bob Moses, both volunteers, in
the Atlanta office of SCLC. In addition to working for SCLC, they both were
recruited by Baker to run the SNCC office, housed within the same offices. Baker
also introduced Moses to the civil rights leaders in Mississippi. Moses was not
initially a member of SNCC, but his associations with Baker, Stembridge, and
Amzie Moore, the leader of the Mississippi NAACP, motivated him to join. Moses
later became one of the field leaders within the SNCC organization. SNCC
adopted Baker's philosophy of "group centered leadership" in which leadership
changed according to the expertise needed. Baker would sit in meetings for
hours without saying anything of only asking questions to help the students find
solutions. As the organization grew from sixteen employees who received $10.99
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per week in 1960 to a staff or more than 200 with a budget of over a million
dollars in 1965, it became obvious that there was a need for one person to
coordinate and direct the programs of the organization. Baker was initially asked
to assume the role, but she declined citing their need for someone closer to their
age.
In 1962 James Forman agreed to take the position of executive director of
the organization. Many of the ideologies of Baker and Forman were consistent,
but they differed in one major area. While Baker was comfortable sitting back and
letting the students set the direction of the organization, Forman often took over
the meetings and set the direction. Additionally, Baker had built her reputation
and her skills by having friends from many different walks of life and building
coalitions, Forman had ties to the Black Panthers. He was also an advocate of
"Black Power," which limited the coalitions that could be made during the later
years of the organization. Baker continued to support Forman and the
organization despite these differences (Grant, 1998, Payne, 1995).
Payne (1995) added extensively to the knowledge of Ella Baker. Payne's
writings covered the events in Mississippi involving the struggle for freedom and
equality in which Miss Baker was integrally involved. Payne quotes Baker as she
summarizes her work with SNCC in the following statement: "I believe in the
right of people to expect those who are older, those who claim to have had more
experience, to help them grow" (p. 67). Most of the work done by Miss Baker was
to empower those with whom she came into contact. Most of the Black leaders
during the civil rights period were no different than any other leaders. They liked
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taking charge and resisted sharing authority. Eiia Baker's philosophy of
leadership was collective leadership and community responsibility. She and other
leaders who shared the same attitude helped the young people of the sixties to
press the limits of their abilities to reshape their lives. Baker established a broad
network of friends and activists during her early years in the civil rights movement
and shared these contacts with the SNCC workers. "In its organizational
structure, its program, its ideology, early SNCC would be almost exactly the kind
of organization Ella Baker had been trying to create for almost three decades"
(Payne, 1995, p. 96).
The participants that Ella Baker worked with were from diverse walks of
life. They included women and the young in leadership roles unlike any other civil
rights organization. Baker wanted participation of the masses with a specific
emphasis on the participants of the indigenous people in leadership. This was
apparent in Miss Baker's work with the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party,
an offshoot of the work of SNCC, which was made up of the common people
from the community. She felt everyone had a contribution to make. Those
persons who were unable to risk their lives and jobs in direct confrontation were
encouraged to work where they could. SNCC’s work emulated Miss Baker’s
ideals and activities also by going into the areas that most other civil rights
groups avoided. One of the primary areas avoided by other groups was
Mississippi, SNCC’s primary area of work. Miss Baker maintained her
involvement in the organization until its demise in 1966. One of the main reasons
for the dismantling of SNCC given by Payne (1995) was the loss of the collective
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leadership and trust that was so important during the early years of the
organization.
Elia Baker’s philosophy of leadership was not only an important influence
on SNCC, but also on the current Freedom School movement. Although Baker
did not want to be a teacher when she completed college, that is exactly what
she was. She was later given the title of Fundi, a Swahili term used to designate
a person who passes on wisdom, crafts and knowledge to others they have
contact with (Dallard, 1990; Grant, 1998).
Marian Wright Edelman was greatly influenced by Ella Baker (Edelman,
1999). The leadership model used by the CDF/BCCC Freedom School is one
that employs an intergenerational model to develop participants at all levels. "I
remember her [Ella Baker’s] counsel as I think about sustaining and
strengthening the Freedom School's crucial mission in the twenty-first century.
She taught me the crucial importance of training a successor generation of young
servant leaders which is now an integral and urgent part of Freedom School's
mission and BCCC which CDF coordinates" (Edelman, 1999, p. 129). Also like
the Freedom School movement of the past, the current program has more than
the purpose of improving educational performance and chances of the
participants. It was then and is now a movement for social change in many areas
using community-based leadership.
The leadership style of Ella Baker and Marian Wright Edelman in the
Freedom School movements is compared with that of other leaders to seek
similarities. A summary of the nature of leadership within the Freedom School
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and community movements in 1964 and today have several common
components. The primary component of each generation of Freedom School is
the empowerment of people at the grassroots level. Leadership was a process
and not a position, which was shown in the relationship and interaction among
those in SNCC. Leaders took a subordinate position to the group process, and
the group was allowed to work through the decision making process. When Miss
Baker worked as a community developer and organizer, this was an integral part
of her leadership style also. She worked to develop leaders from within the
community so that the work for advancement did not end when the outside
influences left. The CDF/BCCC Freedom School program utilizes this component
of Baker’s leadership as well. The ultimate goal in the leadership process was
and is social change. Miss Baker worked with young and old members of the
community to make a difference in the communities where they interacted. The
term "servant leader" was later used by Marian Wright Edelman to describe the
leadership developed by Ella Baker and the Freedom School workers involved in
childhood education, community development, and social change.
Greenleaf (1995,1998) also uses the term "servant leaders" to describe
the development of new leaders. Much like Ella Baker, Greenleaf sought to
develop the group and the collaborative aspects of leadership. Greenleaf saw the
leadership relationship as one that empowered all persons in the process. There
are two questions asked to determine whether a person is a servant leader. First,
do those who serve grow as individuals? Second, do they, while being served,
become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous and more likely themselves to
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serve others? A servant ieader seeks to give back to the community or do things
for the well being of the community, not for self. Greenleaf s work and
background was primarily in the area of management. Instead of a top-down
relationship, Greenleaf saw leadership as a product of the interaction of
individuals. Greenleaf described this interaction as omnidirectional, able to
transmit and receive signals in all directions. This omnidirectional theory of
interaction also encourages interaction on all levels and with everyone with
whom you have contact.
Beyond the use of the same term as Greenleaf, servant leader, this
researcher sought to determine the extent to which the Freedom School leaders
use Greenleaf s philosophies. Both Greenleafs and Baker’s philosophies were
assessed and compared to those of transformational leadership proponents.
The attitude toward leadership expressed by CDF/BCCC is congruent with
many authors who champion transformational leadership (Bums, 1979; Rost,
1 9 9 1 ,1993a, 1993b; Foster, 1989). A common theme of each proponent of
transformational leadership is a close interaction and sharing between the
leaders and the led. In a transformational leadership relationship there is also a
desire to make substantial changes. The relationship between the two
components in the leadership process results in the empowerment of all
involved. Empowerment is a term that means the gaining of control over one’s
own life and life circumstances. The empowerment of the communities served by
the Freedom School program is a key component to the program.
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Bums (1979), one of the earlier theorists in the area of transformational
leadership, chronicled the many theories of leadership. Bums noted that we
could recognize leaders but fail to understand the process of leadership. The
difference in the relationship between the leader and the follower identifies the
nature of leadership. Bums illuminated two forms of leadership, transactional and
transformational. Transactional leadership entailed a give-and-take relationship
in which the followers usually do the leader’s bidding. The leader in transactional
leadership has “power over” the followers, and the visions and ideas of the group
are those of the leader. Transformational leadership differs in that there is a
shared leadership that can be symbolized as “power with” one another. This form
of leadership considers the needs of all involved.
Transformational leadership, while more complex, is more potent. The
transforming leader recognizes and exploits an existing need or demand
of a potential follower. But, beyond that, the transforming leader looks for
potential motives in followers, seeks to satisfy higher needs, and engages
the full person of the follower. The result of transforming leadership is a
relationship of mutual stimulation and elevation that converts followers into
leaders and may convert leaders into moral agents. (Burns, 1979, p. 4)
Bums also explores the moral content of leadership and spoke of at least
four characteristics that should be present. The first characteristic is a
consideration of the mutual needs of the leader and the led. Second, there is
knowledge of alternatives by both the leader and the led. Third, the leader
accepts the responsibility for promises made and the changes made. Fourth,
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moral leadership emerges from the needs of the followers and is always centered
and returns to the needs of the follower.
Rost’s (1991,1993) theories are consistent with the view that relationship
is the key component of leadership. This relationship is seen as dynamic in that
the leaders and followers have roles that are constantly shifting. Rost notes that
this is an influence relationship, not a coercive relationship. Rost (1993) in his
later writings moved to using the term collaborator instead of follower. Rost also
included several other components in his theory of leadership. These
components included the multi-directionality of the relationship, an intended real,
transformative and substantive change, and a mutuality of purpose.
The multi-directional aspect of leadership refers to the changing position
of leadership with everyone in the relationship assuming positions as followers
and leaders, or collaborators as Rost later termed the relationship, as needed.
Bums (1979) refers to the leader’s moral responsibility to keep promises of
change, but Rost views the change process from the perspective of the
intentions of those involved. Thus a transformational leadership relationship must
only seek to make real changes and continues to be transformational, even if the
changes do not come to fruition. The type of change that is intended is real,
transformative and substantive. "Real means that leaders and followers intend
changes in people's lives, attitudes, behaviors, and basic assumptions, as well as
in the group, organizations, societies, and civilizations they are trying to lead"
(Rost, 1993, p. 115). Finally the change process is not exclusively that identified
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by the person in a leadership role. A mutual or shared purpose is developed in
the process of leadership. The goals, focus and final evaluation of change is a
group process.
Foster (1989) espoused a theory of transformational leadership similar to
those of Bums and Rost. Foster required the presence of four different and
essential characteristics in order to categorize a relationship as leadership: it
must be critical, transformative, educative and ethical. The critical element of
leadership refers to a socially critical or evaluative nature of leadership. Thus
changes should be for the positive. The transformative nature of leadership
relates to the real and substantive change as a result of the leadership process.
Foster differed from Rost in that he requires the outcome of the process to be
effective in order to be considered leadership. The educative component of
leadership points to the growth and learning process that all parties in the
leadership process go through. Finally the ethical nature of the leadership
process refers to the moral and right principles that those in the leadership
relationship must adhere to.
Each of these theorists looks at real social change that is based in a
relationship that is not top-down but interactive. When these theories and those
of other transformational leaders are compared with that of Miss Ella Bakers -
one of the primary organizing forces behind SNCC, the Freedom School program
in 1964, and an integral part of the current program - her ideas are consistent
with those of transformational leadership theorists.
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Summary
This chapter has four major components: the history of Blacks in America,
the education of Blacks in America, Freedom School, and leadership. There was
an extensive view of history to show the depth of the problems faced by African
Americans. A history that was different from any other immigrant group in
America led to a difference in the treatment of African Americans that was and is
long lasting. The understanding of that history is important to the nature of
education, the development of the Freedom School, and the nature of leadership
in the African American community. People of African American descent suffered
disenfranchisement, the loss of power and human rights. All of the other areas in
the review of literature are based upon this history.
The educational component of this literature review illuminates the denial
of, and substandard education received by, Blacks throughout history. Education
that was the mode of assimilating all other cultures into the American society
became the means, whether intentional or not, of marginalizing people of African
heritage. There was little change in the nature of education for at least the first
three hundred years of African American presence in this country. The changes
that have occurred recently continue to leave many African American
communities with substandard education.
Three generations of Freedom School were identified, although the main
emphasis of the literature review was on the SNCC and CDF/BCCC programs.
The three generations of Freedom Schools are integrally related to the history of
Blacks in America as well as the history of education for Blacks. Freedom
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Schoois show the attempts of Blacks to educate their own community, often in a
hostile environment. The challenges faced by the Freedom School in each
generation had both similarities and differences that this review of the literature
helps the researcher to gain an understanding.
The leadership in the Freedom School programs and the other programs
associated with them is a consequence and reflection of the social setting in
which it is based. Leadership by a disenfranchised people must develop a means
for empowering those involved in the process. The literature shows how those in
the leadership process were empowered to make changes in their communities.
Each of these areas of the literature review is related. The extensiveness
of the literature review was necessary to show this relationship and the effect on
the people who have lived the experiences shown in the literature review. The
next chapter will allow the researcher to illuminate the current effect of this
history and the attempts to make social changes today.
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Methodology and Research Design
Introduction
Qualitative researchers collect data that consist of stories and narratives
from informants that either have participated in or were closely related to the area
under discussion. The data gathered are rich in the language and nuances that
are specific to the subject and the informants (Coffey & Atkinson, 1996). Through
interviews and the stories of those who experienced the Freedom School
program, a greater understanding and insight into the program was gained.
In addition to interviews and stories of participants, qualitative data are
gained from the observations of the researcher. The researcher’s participation in
the program as an Executive Director and Project Director provided access as a
participant observer. Patton (1987) lists six advantages found in observation in
the field including that it (1) increases understanding of the context; (2) allows for
an inductive approach without pre-existing assumptions; (3) finds content that is
routine to the participant; (4) discloses things that the participants are unwilling to
discuss; (5) moves beyond the selective perceptions of participants; and (6)
permits the researcher to access first-hand experiences.
Interviews and observations combined with the data collected during the
literature review provide a total picture of the subject studied. The bringing
together of different data sources allowed for triangulation, or the gaining of "a
115
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deeper and dearer understanding of the setting and people being studied"
(Taylor & Bogdan, 1984, p. 68). Patton (1987), although warning against always
expecting consistent findings with triangulation, notes that "consistency in overall
patterns of data from different sources and reasonable explanations for
differences in data from various sources contributes significantly to the overall
credibility of the findings presented in the . . . report" (p. 162). Themes or
categories were sought using these multiple means for qualitative research.
This study analyzes and describes the program and leadership
development of CDF/BCCC's Freedom School Program. Since the CDF/BCCC
program was modeled after the program developed by SNCC in 1964, this
program was also studied for similarities and differences. Preliminary research
on the Freedom School program yielded very little written information on either
program, but a more in-depth study of the times and occurrences of the civil
rights movement provided keys to the 1964 program. The information of the
CDF/BCCC program came primarily from observations, program meetings, and
interviews of those active in the program. Thus the increase of the knowledge
and understanding of both Freedom School programs required both the
compilation of the written and oral history of these programs, by studying the
context of each program and interviewing participants. An understanding of the
values and motivations behind the thoughts and actions of the developers of the
Freedom School provided insight into some facets of the African American
culture. These facets included the development of leadership, the thoughts
regarding education, and the self-help components of the community.
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Methodological Framework
Chapter 3 has five purposes. First, it describes the methodological
decision or the reasoning that determined the choice of methodology. Second, it
provides an overview of the methods used. Third, the data collection process is
described. Fourth, the method used to analyze the data is described. Fifth, the
importance of the study is explained.
Methodological Decision.
The goal of this study was to understand the Freedom School program in
its context. With this goal in mind, a descriptive case study of the Freedom
School program was chosen for this research. Merriam (1988) stated that
qualitative research, more specifically case study research, is most conducive for
the development of this understanding.
The choice of methodology does two things. First it determines the final
form of a research project and second, it reflects the attitude of the researcher.
Basic assumptions accompany the choice of quantitative versus qualitative
research methodology. An assumption made in quantitative methodology is that
an ultimate truth or law is found when the unique aspects of an environment are
eliminated or controlled. Inherent in this assumption is that there is one implicit
and absolute truth that can be found, verified and quantified. All research findings
are expected to fit a pattern and any that fail to fit the agreed upon truth are
labeled anomalies or are the result of flaws in the research (Maykut &
Morehouse, 1994).
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The first assumption in qualitative research is that there is no absolute
truth. Truth in social research is relative. Merriam (1988) noted, "traditional
research is based on the assumption that there is a single, objective reality . . . in
contrast, qualitative assumes that there are multiple realities" (p. 17). These
multiple realities are important factors the qualitative researcher seeks to
understand, as opposed to trying to eliminate them.
The theory of one ultimate truth faced a growing challenge in the mid-
1960s. This era symbolized a time of growing cultural identity and distinction. The
civil rights era was a factor in illuminating the differing realities among ethnic,
cultural, and gender groups. It was also the era that gave rise to the first
generation of the Freedom School program. The 1960s also marked a rise in the
popularity and viability of qualitative research methodology (Bedro & Feinberg,
1982; Maykut & Morehouse, 1994; Merriam, 1988). The rise of the civil rights
movement gave rise to a voice that was silent or barely audible prior to this time.
This voice expressed a reality different from the one held by those in positions of
power.
A second assumption found in quantitative methodology is that the
researcher holds a position of objectivity and impartiality and thus does not
influence or affect the results in any way. The idea that scientifically based
quantitative methodology is always trustworthy and value-free is now questioned.
Schrantz and Walker (1995) noted that research itself is socially located and thus
the researcher’s claim to truth is socially influenced. The researcher’s ideas of
truth and knowledge are inherent in the choice of methodology.
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Qualitative research ideology recognizes that the researcher brings values
and opinions into studies that influence the results. Thus the idea that the
researcher addresses a problem or social setting from a value-free standpoint is
challenged (Bedro & Feinberg, 1982; Flinders & Mills, 1993; Maykut &
Morehouse, 1994). Social background, interactions, and attitudes shape the
researcher’s opinions. Additionally the choice of methodology determines how
the researcher views a situation. Flinders and Mills (1993) noted that Thomas A.
Schwandt contends that the question is not whether theoretical commitment
shapes the observations of people and society, but rather how these
observations are shaped. Thus the researchers must recognize the social factors
that shape their perspectives and understand how these factors influence their
study.
The factors considered when choosing the qualitative method of research
include the questions asked, the amount of control the researcher has, the end
product desired and the limits or bounds of the study. Case studies answer
questions of "how" and "why" (Yin, 1984). Research on the Freedom School
program sought to understand how and why it developed. The contextual factors,
including the political and social climates, were studied as a means of gaining
understanding of the development of the program.
Maykut and Morehouse (1994) explain that qualitative research, more
specifically, case study, is less concerned with explanations, predictions and
proofs and instead "focuses on understanding meaning of events for the persons
being studied" (p. 3). A naturalistic inquiry is the observation, finding meaning
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and gaining of knowledge about a situation based on what is learned from the
total context instead of reducing the situation to the components (Merriam, 1988).
Qualitative designs are naturalistic, since the researcher makes no attempts to
manipulate the program or its participants (Patton, 1987). Reality and meaning in
a situation are "a multilayered, interactive, shared social experience that can be
studied by first learning what participants consider important" (Guba & Lincoln,
1989, pp159-160). Guba and Lincoln (1989) use the term "constructivist" when
speaking about evaluations in a natural environment because those involved in
the context construct the meaning.
The end product of a qualitative research per Bedro and Feinberg (1982)
"emphasizes the importance of the way actors define the situation" (p. 8). Thus,
case study research results in a holistic description of the phenomenon studied
from the perspective of those involved. The end product of this study on Freedom
School explains the how, why and assumptions of those who lived the
experience.
Case Study
The case study method of research is one form of qualitative research that
is often used in education to understand individuals, institutions and programs.
Merriam (1988) defined case study methodology as "an examination of a specific
phenomenon such as a program, an event, a person, a process, an institution, or
a social group" (p. 9). Merriam further observed that case studies are useful "in
presenting basic information about areas of education where little research has
been conducted" (p. 27). The minimal data available on the Freedom School
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program fits the reasoning provided by Merriam for the completion of a case
study.
Merriam (1988) noted that the deciding factor for using a case study
approach to research is "whether a bounded system can be identified as a focus
of the investigation" (p. 9). The subject of the study is shaped by specific
contextual variables in a bounded system. Each Freedom School program
represents a bounded system. The distinct contextual factors that led to the
development of the Freedom School program were what this researcher sought
to uncover.
During the early research, two Freedom School programs were studied.
The two different generations of Freedom School program, the 1964 SNCC
program and the CDF/BCCC program, were related by a shared philosophy and
guiding force of community development. This relationship goes beyond the
name and includes the population served, goals, and methodology. Thus,
historical information on the SNCC Freedom School is used to understand that
relationship. This case study focuses primarily on the CDF/BCCC Freedom
School but also compares and contrasts the two programs to discover other
commonalties. Later in the process of the research, a third and earlier program
was discovered that operated in St. Louis in 1847. The third Freedom School
program also served the African American population of this country.
Merriam (1988) found that historical research and case study often merge.
Yin (1984) also noted the overlap of historical and case study research. The
overlap is most apparent when historical research is used to understand a
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current situation, in order to understand the need for, development of, and
current use of the Freedom School program, a historical study was completed.
Historical methodology is used to understand a past phenomenon, as in the case
of the 1847 and 1964 Freedom School programs. Documents about the 1847
Freedom School, although scarce, provided information for the research on the
latter two programs. In addition, the information on the 1964 Freedom School
program was gained by literature review and interviews with persons who
participated either in the development of the program or as students. Thus each
of these programs provided historical background for the CDF/BCCC Freedom
School. The historical documentation was only part of the information available to
aid in the understanding of the current CDF/BCCC program. Interviews and
observations related to the current program were also an integral part of the
study.
Merriam (1988) noted that ethnographic techniques are also closely
related to historical case studies. This relationship is apparent in the Freedom
School research project. Each Freedom School was developed and run almost
exclusively within the African American community. The cultural aspects related
to the development of the Freedom School program add a valuable dimension to
this study. Leadership development outside of the western Eurocentric culture is
only minimally studied in leadership programs. This Eurocentric perspective of
leadership focused on males only, more specifically, on White males. Prior to the
1960s leadership theorists usually focused on political or organizational
leadership.
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To commit to ethnography traditionally has meant to commit to iooking at,
and attempting to make sense of, human social behavior in terms of
cultural patterning. To pursue ethnography in one's thinking, doing, and
reporting is to engage simultaneously in an ongoing intellectual dialogue
about what culture is in general - and how .. .culture influences without
controlling - while attempting to portray specific aspects of the culture of
some human group in particular. (Wolcott, 1990, p. 48)
This study illuminates leadership from the perspective of the African American
community.
During the 1960s American culture underwent a challenge to the status
quo with the civil rights movement, the women’s movement, and other grassroots
movements. These movements heightened the social awareness of differences
in the way people relate to their society. Theorists in different arenas were
prompted to examine long-standing ideas and philosophies. Theorists who held
to one view of leadership were faced with the prospect of reexamining their
concept of leadership when the element of culture was added. Gilligan (1982)
and Miller (1986) examined the changing attitudes toward leadership where
women were involved. Women’s leadership style valued relationships and
interdependence, two components that were not valued by men who focused on
rugged individualism.
The cultural norms not only devaluated women’s leadership
characteristics; they did the same with regard to Blacks (Miller, 1986). Women
and people of color, especially Blacks, were not considered to have leadership
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capability. This lack of leadership capabilities grew out of what Miller called
“permanent inequalities.” Permanent inequalities were those attributes that a
person was bom with that would not change. A person who is either a woman or
a person of color had attributes that would not change and were not valued, so
they were ascribed the status of permanent inequality. These permanent
inequalities were contrasted with temporary inequalities, such as age, which a
person grows out of. "Whites are taught to think of their lives as morally neutral,
normative, and average, and also ideal, so that when we [they] work to benefit
others, this is seen as work which allows 'them' to be more like 'us'" (McIntosh,
1988, p. 4). The norm for all interactions, human qualities and even leadership
was that of the White populace, primarily White males. The Freedom School
research from a diverse perspective adds to the body of knowledge and
curriculum of leadership.
Data Collection
The analysis of data is accomplished using multiple methods. Yin (1984)
noted that multiple methods are often used in case studies, the overarching
methodology chosen for this research. The methods of data collection
incorporated in this research were document review, participant observation,
questionnaires and interviews. The initial phase of this research consists of a
review of the available documents related to the 1964 program. Additionally, the
documentation related to the social, educational and political climate of the time
was reviewed. Next, a review of documents related to the CDF/BCCC Freedom
School and the climate of the era was completed. The two programs and eras
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were compared to determine the similarities and dissimilarities of the programs
and changes in the social, educational, and political climates.
Document review is one of the most underused methods in qualitative
research per Merriam (1988). Merriam quoted Glaser and Strauss (1967)
regarding the use of documents noting "researchers prefer to produce their own
data,... the use of documents is too much like historical research" (Merriam,
1988, p. 104). Some of the major advantages to document review are their
availability and accessibility; they are usually free and a time saving source of
information. Documentation, interviews, and observations are used in much the
same way. 'The data can furnish descriptive information, verify emerging
hypotheses, advance new categories and hypotheses, offer historical
understanding, track change and development, and so on" (Merriam, 1988, p.
108).
Next, the data gained from the document review provided information
used to develop a questionnaire. Questionnaires are used in both qualitative and
quantitative research, so it is important to identify the differences. Patton (1987)
illustrates the difference between questionnaires used for qualitative studies
versus those used for quantitative studies. Qualitative questionnaires use open-
ended questions and thus glean information from the perspective of the
participant. Quantitative questionnaires, in contrast, seek to gain succinct and
measurable answers that adapt easily to scale.
An open-ended questionnaire was used in the study of the Freedom
School program. The disbursement of the questionnaire was varied to meet the
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needs of the individuai interviewed. Many of the questionnaires were maiied to
potential participant with audiotapes. This method allowed them to either tape or
write their responses. Other questionnaires were e-mailed to participants who
agreed to respond via e-mail. Some participants were interviewed either in
person or via the telephone. All interviews were recorded except those via e-mail.
Different questionnaires were developed for persons who participated in the
SNCC program and those in the CDF/BCCC program. There was also a different
questionnaire for the CDF/BCCC program developers. Sample questionnaires
are attached in the appendices.
The responses from this questionnaire were analyzed and used to
develop additional questions where necessary; responses also determined
additional persons for interviews. In addition responses to the questionnaires
also provided verification of the information gathered through the document
review and observation.
Entry to the Population
The researcher is the executive director of a CDF/BCCC Freedom School
in San Diego at Bayview Baptist Church. The researcher began working with the
Freedom School program leaders in February 1997, which provided the
opportunity to observe and collect data on the program. At least three annual
meetings are held by CDF/BCCC that bring persons from all of the different
Freedom School programs together. Two of these meetings are used for
planning and training; the third meeting allows for assessment of the summer’s
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Freedom School program. Therefore the researcher had access to the leadership
of the program and more than fifty community sites.
Selection of the Population
The selection of the population for this research project was limited to
individuals with firsthand knowledge of the Freedom School program. Firsthand
knowledge is that gained by participating in one of the Freedom School
programs, either SNCC or CDF/BCCC, as a program developer, worker or
student. The persons asked to participate in the interview process included
■ Marian Wright Edelman: the founder and director of CDF and one of the
founding members of BCCC. Mrs. Edelman was a lawyer in Mississippi
during the 1964 Freedom School program and renewed the program in
1992.
■ Bob Moses: a major figure in 1964. Moses was known as the architect of
the 1964 Freedom Summer Movement. In 1960 Moses, a graduate of
Harvard was teaching math in Harlem. He was moved by the struggles of
the Civil Rights workers in the South, especially the students. He decided
to leave his job and joined the movement. Eventually Moses became a
leader in the SNCC program. Thirty years later he assisted the Boston's
Ten Point Coalition with development of a Freedom School program
(Parker, 1997).
■ Unita Blackwell: a resident of Mississippi during the civil rights movement.
Mrs. Blackwell joined SNCC and the NAACP in 1964. Mrs. Blackwell and
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her son participated as students in the 1964 Freedom School program.
Mrs. Blackwell is still involved with the CDF/BCCC Freedom School.
■ Charlie Cobb: the person who initiated the idea for the Freedom School
program in the fall of 1963. A large group of college students, primarily
White, were coming to help in the civil rights movement during the
summer of 1964. A plan was needed to utilize these students. Since most
of these students were coming with excellent educational credentials, the
idea of Freedom School was developed.
■ Victoria Adams: SCLC education director and consultant to SNCC
Freedom School program. Ms. Adams is also the motivating force behind
a Freedom School program currently being run in Virginia. This site
participated with the CDF/BCCC program one year but has run for three
additional years independently.
■ Marian Davids: the first national director of the CDF/BCCC Freedom
School. Ms. Davids developed a new facet of the program called the
"Island of Peace." This program component was developed to prevent
burnout by those who give of themselves to others, especially the servant
leaders.
■ Julienne Johnson: the Freedom School National Director from 1997 until
1999.
■ Pickett Harrington: a participant in the Freedom School program as an
intern in Bennettsville, South Carolina and then as an Ella Baker National
Trainer. He was the youngest person asked to participate as a research
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subject. His perspective on leadership development was from a
perspective of one who received the training.
■ Robin Sally: a participant of Bennettsville Freedom School and the
current curriculum developer. Mrs. Sally reviews and selects all of the
literature for the summer program.
■ Barbara Kelley-Duncan: the Vice President of Leadership Development
and BCCC.
Members of the following groups were asked to interview also.
■ Executive Directors: this group is made up of representatives of the
sponsoring agencies. The sponsoring agencies are community-based
churches, community centers, schools, and other agencies that decide to
host a Freedom School.
■ Project Directors: the persons responsible for maintaining the
communication between the Freedom School and CDF/BCCC, the
securing of the site, the development of funds, the recruitment of staff, the
day-to-day supervision of the site coordinator and interns. A project
director is often responsible for more than one site.
■ Site coordinator: the person responsible for the daily running of a site,
maintaining the daily schedule, supervising the day-to-day activities and
assuring the interns have daily supplies and other needs.
■ Interns: the persons responsible for the daily teaching and supervision of
students and classroom management. These are generally college-aged
young people who are good role models for the children in their classes.
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■ Students: these are persons from the SNCC Freedom School program
only. Two former Freedom School students live in San Diego. None of the
current students will be interviewed due to their age.
More than forty individuals and representatives from the groups listed
above were invited to participate in the interview process. The objective was to
have at least ten persons participate as interviewees. The individuals were
initially asked to participate in the research project in February 1998 but
interviews were not begun until June 1999. All of the persons agreed to
participate in the interview process except Mrs. Edelman. Mrs. Edelman chose to
stay in the background and allow those directly active in the program to speak
instead.
Due to the time period between the initial contacts and the actual
interviews with some of the persons, many were not able to participate in the
formal interview process. Some left the Freedom School program for different
reasons before the interviews were completed. One person who was unavailable
for interview was Pickett Harrington, who decided to take a leave from the
program to complete college and become a teacher. Many program participants
left the Freedom School program for employment, often with other non-profit
programs.
Eighteen out of the forty persons initially identified signed consent to
participation in the interview process, and out of these persons only ten
completed the process. The following persons completed interviews.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ■ Barbara Kelley Duncan: Mrs. Duncan is the Vice President of
Leadership Development and BCCC. This position provides the direct
administrative oversight of the Freedom School program on a national
basis.
■ Linda Jones: Ms. Jones is a representative of the YWCA in St. Louis,
one of the sponsoring agencies of the Freedom School.
■ Seteria Austin: Ms. Austin is a site coordinator of one of the two
Freedom School sites in St. Louis.
■ Debra Boyd: Mrs. Boyd is a site coordinator at the other Freedom
School site in St. Louis.
■ Ronald Jackson: Mr. Jackson is a representative of Interact St. Louis,
one of the sponsoring agencies of the Freedom School.
■ Rasuli Lewis: Mr. Lewis is the East Coast Region Coordinator of
BCCC and a representative of Rheedlen Center for Children and
Families. Rheedlen is a sponsoring agency for Freedom Schools in
the Harlem and Manhattan communities in New York.
■ Anthony Tillman: Mr. Tillman is the National Director of the Freedom
School program for CDF.
■ Dwala Ferrell: Ms. Ferrell is a representative of the Petersburg
Freedom School. This program began as an independent program
and later became part of the CDF/BCCC program for one year. After
that year the program severed ties with CDF/BCCC.
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■ Mike Watts: Mr. Watts is also a representative of the Petersburg
Freedom School.
■ Victoria Adams: Mrs. Adams was the SCLC Director of Education in
1964. She is also one of the founding parties of the Petersburg
Freedom School.
Several different methods were used to get responses from the persons who
agreed to participate in the interview process. These methods included mailed
interview questions and written or recorded responses, email responses,
telephone interviews, and interviews in person. Each person was asked which
method they preferred. The methods that proved most successful were the
interviews completed in person or on the telephone. None of the other methods
resulted in responses.
In addition to the individuals chosen for interview, three CDF/BCCC
Freedom School sites were chosen for highlighting. These sites were St. Louis,
East St. Louis and Philadelphia. The sites were chosen for unique features that
came either from the literature search or the development of the program. St.
Louis was chosen because it was also the site for the 1847 Freedom School
program. East St. Louis was chosen because it had gained distinction in the
writings of Kozol (1992). Philadelphia's distinction came from the Philadelphia
Unified School District’s involvement in the program and what appeared to be an
all-encompassing level of community involvement. Attempts were made to visit
each of these sites. The St. Louis and East St. Louis sites were visited between
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October 6 and 9,1999. The East St. Louis site had ceased operation after the
1999 summer program, so no interviews were completed at this site.
Several attempts were made to contact one of the persons responsible for
the Philadelphia program for an interview and a visit. The researcher was
unsuccessful in both cases, although the contact person had agreed to the
interview. Another site that was considered for visit was the Bennettsville site
because it was the initial CDF/BCCC site. Time constraints did not make that visit
possible.
The independent Freedom School program in Petersburg, Virginia was
also chosen for highlighting. This site provides a different perspective of the
Freedom School separate from those that participate in the CDF/BCCC program.
The program also included the participation of a SNCC Freedom School
participant.
Protection of Subjects
All interviews were completed with the consent of the person being
interviewed and the included a clause giving them the right to withdraw from the
study at any time without jeopardy. Tape recordings of each interview were made
and were reviewed by the subjects to help eliminate any risk of misquoting the
subjects. Additionally, the researcher took notes during the interview process to
further eliminate the risk of malfunctioning equipment and problems with
inaccuracy of the records. One of the interviews had to be followed up with a
telephone call due to the malfunctioning of the tape recorder. Notes were kept of
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this interview, but to verify the content of the interview a second interview was
completed via telephone.
Every effort was made to eliminate risks during the transcription process
also. The researcher transcribed some of the interviews; the others were
transcribed by a transcription service. Additionally all of the participants in the
interviews agreed to have their names included in the final product; thus, coding
was not necessary. In at least two cases the person interviewed gave consent for
the use of the interview for the use in the dissertation only. A clause was added
to the end of the transcript stating that this would be the only use of the interview
and name of the participant unless another consent was gained.
The researcher continued to maintain the transcripts and tapes in a safe
and secured place despite the consent of the participants for the use of their
names. The researcher decided to maintain the confidentiality to prevent any
problems if an interview subject changed their mind regarding their consent later
in the process. The maintenance of confidentiality is standard practice for the
researcher who has a License in Clinical Social Work and is a counselor in the
educational system.
Data Analysis
Mem'am (1988) states
Collection and analysis should be a simultaneous process in qualitative
research. It is, in fact, the timing of analysis and the integration of analysis
with other tasks that distinguish a qualitative design from traditional
positivistic research (Goetz & LeCompte, 1984). A qualitative design is
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emergent: One does not know whom to interview, what to ask, or where
to look next without analyzing data as they are collected, (p. 123)
The process used in data collection for this research followed this emergent
pattern. The initial document review led to other sources for review for this
project that initially appeared to have few written resources. The analysis of this
data also led to interview subjects and those subjects led to even more subjects.
The analysis of data now moves to a more important level, although it is a
continuation of the earlier process.
The data found and reported thus far in the research must be narrowed.
The narrowing of topics produced three prominent categories that were further
analyzed to fully understand the Freedom School programs. The social and
educational status of Blacks in America appears to be the most prominent
categories for research. Additionally, leadership in the African American
community was another topic for further analysis.
The preliminary analysis of data further defined the nature of this study.
The focus is the CDF/BCCC Freedom School, but there is now a greater need for
a comparison of this program to the one run by SNCC in 1964 since the SNCC
program provided a model for the later program. The nature of change during the
period of time between the two programs provides insight into the nature of
society, in this case for Black America. The researcher was unable to determine
whether there was any connection with the 1847 Freedom School program.
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The largest and most challenging part of the data analysis was the
integration of the documents, interview and observed data. During this process
the determination was made about what was most important and what added
most to the knowledge base of the topic studied. Interpretation of data in
qualitative studies takes on a very different perspective from that of quantitative
studies. In quantitative studies the researcher seeks to verify what was
previously discovered. This verification is achieved by assuring consistency
between the variables, eliminating aspects in the research that are unique to
individual settings and applying the findings to multiple settings and subjects
(Maykut & Morehouse, 1994). Consistency in the procedure of the research
process is also essential in quantitative studies (Merriam, 1988). The analysis of
the variables is in the forefront in the interpretation of quantitative data.
The analysis of data in a qualitative study seeks to include details
sufficient to understand the particular setting and the persons involved.
Qualitative research places emphasis on understanding through looking closely
at a person's words, actions and records. Each of the components of the
research, context and participants, is important for the purpose of understanding
the meaning of the data and making sense of the actions of the research
subjects (Maykut & Morehouse, 1994; Merriam, 1988).
The data was compiled and reported in a manner that was descriptive of
the nature of each Freedom School and provided answers to the guiding
questions of this study. The social context of each of the Freedom School
programs was analyzed and compared to achieve a greater understanding of the
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development of the program. The interviews and literature review were used to
determine the underlying assumptions of the participants. Despite the initial lack
of literature for the 1964 program, by the end of the literature review the
researcher was able to find an overwhelming amount of literature that needed to
be narrowed. The literature review ultimately provided a clearer understanding of
the assumptions of those involved in the SNCC program. During the interviews of
the persons involved in the CDF/BCCC Freedom School program, questions
about the goal and purpose of the program were asked to understand the
motivation of those involved. This question was asked again after the interviews
were transcribed if the answers needed further clarification, as was the case in at
least one of the interviews.
Since leadership is a prime component of the current Freedom School
program and played a prominent part of the 1964 program, the data was used
also to determine the nature of leadership chosen by this segment of the African
American community and why. The leadership of the CDF/BCCC and SNCC
Freedom School programs were compared and analyzed. All of the components
of the two programs were compared for consistency. Also, the leadership in the
Freedom School program was compared with one other leadership example in
the African American community and analyzed. The specific comparison was
with the SCLC leadership. Finally the leadership of the Freedom School was
compared to leadership literature with the goal of investigating if it was consistent
with other theories or leadership practices.
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Importance of the Study
There are four important reasons for this study. First, the study addresses
problems in education that persistently affect African Americans in general and
the nation as a whole. The hopelessness resulting from the generations of social
and educational degradation is a manifestation of what Erikson (1982) called
rejectivity. There is currently a growing disregard for life of self and others by
those who have found no means of acceptable social and educational
advancement. This researcher seeks to uncover a means for turning this tide of
self-destruction.
Second, this research provides a model of leadership within the Black
community to address the lack of visibility or recognition in most leadership
programs. Congruent with Bums’ (1979) theory of transformational leadership,
the Freedom School program "excites the previously bored and apathetic; it
recreates a political connection with the alienated; it reaches even to the wants
and needs of anomic and shapes and motivates" (Burns, 1979, p. 137). This type
of leadership must be founded within the Black community to make the changes
needed within the community.
Additionally leadership literature from a multicultural perspective is lacking,
especially an African American perspective. There is an even greater dearth of
leadership examples in the area of education within the African American
community. This lack of visible and or recognized leadership in the African
American community is a threat to the ongoing survival of the community.
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Third, the potential for social change is found in this research. The
persistent educational distress among African Americans results in a lack of
contribution to society as a whole. One goal is to determine if any successful
features of the current Freedom School program can provide nontraditional
methodology missing in the education of Black America.
Finally, there is a lack of written information about Freedom Schools. This
lack of information is partially explained by Payne (1997) who stated, "It is
interesting to note that within the black movement, Freedom School work always
had relatively low status value. At least in part this was because women did
much of it and because it wasn't as dangerous as other work. Voter registration
work, on the other hand, held the highest status value" (pp. 8-9). The information
regarding the civil rights era Freedom School comes from biographies and the
oral history of some of the founders. Since data regarding the Freedom School
programs is scarce, this addition to the written documentation is valuable.
Background of the Researcher
On a personal basis, my background is varied. I received a Bachelor's of
Science degree in Human Development and Family Life in 1970 and a Masters of
Social Work in 1976, both from San Diego State University. While working on my
bachelor’s degree, I wrote two papers that the university found worthy of noting on
my transcript. The first paper was on the socialization of children, with an emphasis
on minority children, from birth to age five. One of the premises of that paper was
that children of color were often socialized from an early age to see themselves as
different and inferior. The second paper dealt with the effect of covert prejudice in
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education. Both papers express the belief that most children of color, especially
African American children, who achieve must do so despite a society and
educational system that is stacked against them.
Professionally, I worked for the Department of Social Services for five years
and the California Department of Health and San Diego Regional Center for the
Developmental^ Disabled a total of fifteen years. In 1985 I began a five-year
process of changing professions to the field I initially planned to pursue upon
entering college, education. This transition process culminated in 1990 when I was
hired in the community college system as a counselor for the Extended Opportunity
Program and Services (EOPS) and Disabled Students Programs and Services
(DSPS) departments. My experiences in the community college system prompted
me to further my own education. My interest in factors that lead to personal and
group success, or the lack there of, continued, not only in the educational system
but also in all other areas of the human condition. For these reason I chose to study
the field of leadership.
My early work as a student and this current project show a consistent
concern about society, education and the issue of race in America. Van Manen
(1990, p. 2) stated "that the way in which one articulates certain questions has
something to do with the research method that one tends to identify with . . . The
choice should reflect more than mere whim, preference, taste, or fashion. Rather,
the method one chooses ought to maintain a certain harmony with the deep interest
that makes one (who he or she is) in the first place." The choice of qualitative
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research methodology reflects who I am, a Black woman. I do not feel that
quantitative methodology can truly express who and what I am and believe.
The subject chosen is important to this researcher for two reasons. First, I
sought to research something that I am experiencing rather than merely
conceptualizing. My experiences thus far with the CDF/BCCC Freedom School
have shown me that it is an important program and one worth studying. I feel the
information gained in this study is valuable to the study of leadership, the Black
community and me, as an individual. Second, this research project expresses my
concern and desire to facilitate changes in the care and treatment of all persons in
our society, especially persons of color.
Summary
Chapter 3 provides an overview of the primary methodology used in this
research and the reasoning used in choosing the methodology. There is a
relationship between the researcher, research topic, and methodology. The
relationship between the research topic and methodology was also shown. The
methodology used in this study is qualitative, a methodology that came into
prominence in the 1960s. Coincidentally, the 1960s also marked the time of the
Freedom School program and changing perspectives on leadership. Consistent
with this view of the interrelatedness of the person, context, and action,
qualitative methodology was chosen for this study.
The data collection and analysis processes were also described in this
chapter. The data collection process includes the literature review, interviews,
and participant observations. These areas were compared and patterns sought.
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This chapter provides an overview of the choice of subjects and the devices that
used in the data collection process.
The next chapter provides an analysis of the information gleaned during
the data collection process. The two primary Freedom School programs and their
social contexts were compared. Also a preliminary comparison was made with
the 1847 program, although this was not extensive. The results of the interview
process are interwoven into the other aspects of data.
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Analysis of Data
Introduction
The goal of this research project is to understand the circumstances that
led to the development of the CDF/BCCC Freedom School program. Since the
current Freedom School program is modeled after the 1964 SNCC Freedom
School program, one of the methods used to understand the development of the
CDF/BCCC program is the determination of the similarities and differences in the
program's social and educational context. The comparison of these two programs
includes an analysis of the internal and external consistencies and
inconsistencies. The information from the 1847 Freedom School is also
compared with the SNCC and CDF/BCCC Freedom School programs. There is
no known relationship between the 1847 Freedom School and the others,
although additional research is warranted. Information on this earlier program is
just used to lay a foundation. One of the models for the 1964 program was a
Freedom School in Chicago. Chicago’s proximity to St. Louis makes plausible the
possibility of a relationship. The social and educational changes in the time
period between the 1964 Freedom School and the current program are some of
the most important aspects of this study. The areas of research, including the
literature review, observations, questionnaires, and interview process, provide
data for the comparison of the two programs in context.
143
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Robert Tabscott, a minister in St. Louis, compiled the information on the
1847 Freedom School. This researcher met with Rev. Tabscott on October 7,
1999. An official interview was not held since Rev. Tabscott is reluctant to
release much of his information, however, an extensive discussion did occur.
Rev. Tabscott agreed to provide additional information, but it was not received.
Rev. Tabscott's reluctance to provide extensive amounts of his research to
others comes from several attempts by others to use it without giving him the
credit for the research. Rev. Tabscott did place a portion of his research in the St.
Louis Museum of Man, which this researcher did have access to. This researcher
was also given permission to use Rev. Tabscott's name. The combination of the
information gained in the discussion with the subject and that gained from the
Museum of Man provide the basis for the data on the 1847 Freedom School.
Most of the information gained on the 1964 Freedom School program was
gained through the literature review process. Small amounts of the data came
from the civil rights movement. Other information was contained in the books
about Miss Ella Baker (Dallard, 1990; Grant, 1998) and her life and works. The
largest amount of information about the 1964 Freedom School came from the
writings of those who were on the front lines of the struggle and Payne (1995,
1997). Additionally, information was obtained from an interview with Victoria
Adams, a consultant to the 1964 Freedom School program. Informal discussions
were also held with Unita Blackwell, Bob Moses, one of the former students in
the programs, and questions of comparison asked of persons in the current
program.
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The information on the CDF/BCCC Freedom School program came from
literature reviews, observations, and participant interviews. The literature on the
current Freedom School program was found in the books published by BCCC,
CDF and in the training manuals of the CDF/BCCC Freedom School. Additional
information on this program comes from the researcher’s role as a participant
observer during four years of training and summer programs. The final resource
for the information on the current Freedom School program is the product of
several interviews and informal conversations with participants from across the
country. Those persons interviewed were identified in Chapter 3.
Freedom School Comparison
Table #1 provides a comparison of the three generations of the
Freedom School program. Several points of comparison were made. One point
of consistency in each program is that the educational opportunities and
achievements for Blacks lagged behind that of other ethnic groups. Secondly,
each Freedom School program grew out of self-help efforts in the community.
The SNCC and CDF/BCCC Freedom School programs specified self-esteem
building as one of the goals of the program. Although this same goal was not
known as a specific goal of the 1847 program, research shows that education
was used as a means of building self-respect for Blacks and as a symbol of
freedom (Wilson & Ferris, 1989). Another consistency found in all of the Freedom
Schools was the importance of the Black church. In all three generations of the
Freedom School, the church has provided funding and a place to meet.
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Regarding the similarities, the programs are specific to the Biack
community, addressing educational needs, and building self-esteem; these are
the only programmatic consistencies that exist between all Freedom School
programs. The 1847 and CDF/BCCC programs each have a component of
literacy, while the 1964 Freedom School program was more comprehensive,
including French, typing, algebra, drama and other topics that were taught at the
public schools for Whites but not for Blacks. The 1847 and SNCC Freedom
School programs were localized to one region in the country, St. Louis and
Mississippi respectively, while the CDF/BCCC program is establishing sites
across the country. The 1964 program was part of the civil rights movement, and
the CDF/BCCC program is part of an effort to revitalize a movement to save the
Black community. The final similarity between the 1964 and the current Freedom
School program is the emphasis on Black history. Since there is little known
about the curriculum used in the 1847 program, a comparison was not made in
this area.
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Table #1 Freedom School Program Comparison
Program Characteristics ______1847 ______1964______2000
Founding Organization Robert Berry Meachum Student Nonviolent Freedom School/Black or Person Coordinating Council Community Crusade for (SNCC) Children (CDF/BCCC) (a) Educational enrichment, Educational enrichment, Program Focus Literacy education for self-esteem building, build a love for reading, slaves and free Blacks. indoctrination into the civil self-esteem, conflict rights movement, management skills, leadership development. leadership development. In several states across the Program Location In federal territory in the Primarily in Mississippi, country. Most in the East, middle of the Mississippi (There were other sites the South and Mid-West River outside of St. outside of Mississippi that San Diego is the only West Louis. started prior to 1964.) (b) Coast location as of 2000. (c) Approximately 41 sites In 2000, 57 sites. A large Number of Sites (The numbers vary in the number of sites are in 1 documentation. The Philadelphia sponsored by communities were counted, the Unified School District. not sites.) Meachum (It is unknown Primarily White upper and Primarily African American Staffing whether there were middle class college college-aged youth from others involved in this students from the North. within the community being program.) There were some Blacks served. and local people also. None. They had to pay Set by CDF/BCCC. Staff Compensation their own way and any $2000/intem/summer Unknown other charges that may $4600/site coordinator come from going to jail or /summer. $5000 medical expenses. /project director/summer.
Unknown. Meachum Black history, civil rights Black history, social issues, Staff Training was a former slave who movement, safety in Island of Peace (taking was able to buy his Mississippi, working with care of self), curriculum, freedom and educate local people and team building, and himself. curriculum. classroom management. A law was passed in Threats of physical harm, Poor reading skills, low Societal Challenges 1847 prohibiting the death and jail. Need to self-esteem, teen educating of Blacks, build rapport between the pregnancy, gang violence, whether they were free Northern Whites and high school dropout, or slave. Southern Blacks. poverty, and incarceration. Reading-based program, Curriculum Oriented to the Civil Rights Theme: I can make a Unknown movement, Mississippi and difference. . . Black History. Social responsibility
Meachum and the The sponsoring agency, church where he was Personal funding from the community-based Funding the pastor. participants and assistance organizations and grants. from the Black community.
a. There are some sites independent of CDF/BCCC, although the Freedom School has registered the Freedom School name. b. Other sites preceded the Mississippi Freedom School program, including Prince Edward County, VA, Chicago, New York and Boston. c. Previous sites in Oakland, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Pasadena have closed.
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CDF/BCCC Freedom School Overview
This researcher began the study of the Freedom School program in
January 1997 when the Bayview Freedom School became operational. The
Freedom School program was consistent with the researcher’s interest in
community-based, self-help programs in the African American community. Data
collection occurred across a four-year period and through four years of training
that included the purpose and philosophy, history, organizational structure, the
funding, and running of the Freedom School program from February through
June. In August there is a meeting that recaps and debriefs the summer’s
activities, as well as a discussion of the lessons learned at each site. The four-
year time frame of the research allowed for a longitudinal study of the program.
During this period the leadership and program went through several changes that
led to the refinement of the program.
CDF and BCCC reintroduced the Freedom School concept in 1992 as a
means of connecting parents, young adults, and community leaders in an effort
to give children a safe and educationally enriching summer experience. The
goals of the program include:
■ Developing a love for reading
■ Re-establishing a sense of community,
■ Training and empowering college-age youth in leadership and
community responsibility,
■ Changing the focus of children’s educational experience to develop an
enjoyment of learning,
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■ Empowering coiiege students for their own educational growth,
■ Developing self-esteem to prevent pregnancy, gang affiliation,
community violence and other self-defeating behaviors and
■ Developing skills and a sense of empowerment in parents.
This connection between parents, youth, and community leaders provides an
inter-generational model of work that is beneficial to all participants. To insure a
quality program, CDF/BCCC develops curriculum and provides the training for all
of the program participants. The staffing guidelines, daily schedule, and structure
of the program are also designed by CDF/BCCC.
In 1997 there were thirty-two Freedom School sites that included
California, Texas, Michigan, Minnesota, Georgia, Missouri, New York,
Washington D.C., Pennsylvania, North Carolina, South Carolina, Massachusetts,
New Jersey, and Ohio. Most of these sites were in poor rural and urban areas on
the east coast, in the mid-west, and in the south. The sponsoring agencies were
all community-based organizations, including churches, neighborhood centers,
recreation programs, and organizations like the Women's Civic League in
Philadelphia. CDF/BCCC sponsored sites in three locations, the original site in
Bennettsville, the Minneapolis site, and the St. Paul site. These three sites are
the only sites that receive funding directly from CDF/BCCC. All other sites
depend upon the sponsoring agencies and grant money for their survival.
California had three sites in 1996, Oakland, San Francisco, and Los
Angeles. The Los Angeles site ran for one year only and did not return because
of philosophical differences and possible funding issues. These philosophical
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differences were in the structure of the program and the literature used. The two
San Diego sites, one at Bayview Baptist Church and the other at Crenshaw
Community School, hosted their first sites in the summer of 1997. The Bayview
site continued while the Crenshaw site ran for only one year. In 1999 Bethel
A.M.E. Church hosted its first program in San Diego. Also in 1999 the Pasadena
Unified School District, in conjunction with the Southern California Sanctuary for
Children also hosted one site. The Pasadena site operated one year under the
auspices of CDF/BCCC, in 2000 the school district ran a similar program with
some modifications to the original program. The Oakland and San Francisco
sites ran through the summer of 1999, but both of these sites closed because of
funding problems. Currently the only remaining California sites are in San Diego
at Bayview and Bethel.
The national leadership of the Freedom School has undergone several
changes since it began in 1992. The Freedom School program has had three
official directors and one interim director. Marian David was the initial Freedom
School director. She came from Bennettsville, South Carolina, the home of
Marian Wright-Edelman and the first Freedom School program. Ms. David
directed the program through the 1996 program when she left to go to graduate
school at Cornell University. While in college, Ms. David developed a program
that became an essential component of the Freedom School. She found that one
of the main problems for persons active in community service organizations,
especially the Freedom School, was burnout. The program component, called
the "Island of Peace," was aimed at those in the helping profession, especially
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those working for non-profit organizations, to prevent burnout. This program
provides methods of self-preservation while helping others. It includes taking time
for oneself, meditating and supporting one another. After completing graduate
school, Ms. David returned to the Freedom School as a senior program
associate.
Julian Johnson became the director of the program in 1996 and continued
in the leadership position through the 1998 summer program. Karmen Pinkney
accepted the position as Freedom School director on an interim basis after the
1998 summer program and continued in the position until March 2000. A new
Freedom School director, Anthony Tillman, assumed the position of Freedom
School Director in March 2000. Ms. Pinkney assisted with this transition in
leadership; she left CDF/BCCC to join another non-profit organization, The
Points of Light Foundation, as the Director of Volunteerism. Many of the skills
learned during Ms. Pinkney’s tenure at CDF/BCCC were valuable resources in
her new job. Mr. Tillman worked for a college prior to coming to the Freedom
School program. Many of the changes in leadership had the goal of improving
the structure of the training and ongoing development of the Freedom School
program. The growth of the Freedom School program led to the need for
strengthening of the upper level leadership of the program. CDF and BCCC
designate specific staff nationally to work with the Freedom School program. Mrs.
Barbara Kelley-Duncan joined CDF/BCCC in 1996 after several years of working
for children in another non-profit organizations and assumed the responsibility of
leadership on a national basis. Barbara Kelley-Duncan, the Vice President of
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Leadership Development and BCCC, has the uiiimate responsibility for program
development and overseeing all of the components of the Freedom School.
Another change or growth in the Freedom School leadership was the
development of the Ella Baker Trainers. The Ella Baker Trainers are interns and
site coordinators who have participated in the Freedom School program for at
least two years. These young people are recognized for their leadership skills
and are thus moved to a position of training other staff. Ella Baker Trainers were
established in 1998; in 2000 there was a need to strengthen the coordination of
this arm of the Freedom School. Adren Wilson assumed the responsibility for the
coordination of the Ella Baker Trainers.
Adren Wilson, the Manager for the Student Leadership Network for
Children (SLNC), joined the CDF/BCCC in June 1999. Prior to joining
CDF/BCCC, Adren Wilson worked for Louisiana State University; prior to that, he
worked as a middle school history teacher. The strengthening of the SLNC is
expected to improve the support network of college and high school students that
are involved in the Freedom School and to empower and perpetuate a group of
young people who advocate positive social change in their communities. The
development of SLNC helps CDF/BCCC and the Freedom School program
enlarge and empower successive generations of young people who will seek to
make a difference in their community.
The staffing for the local Freedom School programs includes an executive
director, a project director, a site coordinator, and interns. The executive director
is a representative of the sponsoring agency and is responsible for the initial
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communication with CDF/BCCC, the development of an advisory board, securing
space and funding, and for the ultimate resolution of any problems between the
sponsoring organization and national office. The executive director is also
responsible for ensuring that Freedom School is in compliance with local, state,
and federal laws, arranges for meals, recruits, and hires the lead staff, including
the project director and site coordinator. The project director is responsible for
maintaining communication with CDF/BCCC, making arrangements for local and
national training, meeting weekly with site coordinator and staff, and working with
the project coordinator on hiring and securing the site. The site coordinator is
responsible for managing the day-to-day activities at the site, ensuring the interns
have needed materials, assigning interns and students to classrooms, holding
debriefing meetings daily, coordinating and designing parent workshops, and
maintaining open communication between the program administrators and
interns. Interns, at a ten-to-one ratio, are responsible for the primary care,
teaching, and nurturing of the children in the Freedom School. They are the
teachers in the classroom and provide leadership in parents meetings and in
community outreach activities.
National training for the CDF/BCCC Freedom School is held in Clinton,
Tennessee on the farm that was formerly owned by the author Alex Haley. CDF
now owns the farm and sponsors trainings and meetings for the many different
groups under their organization's umbrella. The schedule for the Freedom School
meetings and training, prior to this year, included a three-day meeting for
sponsors and project directors in February, a three-day meeting for site
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coordinators and project directors in March, two weeks of training in June for site
coordinators, and one week of training in June for interns.
In 2000 the meeting schedule changed to one preliminary meeting in
March for four days that included the executive director, project director, and the
site coordinator. Another change was made to the June training program: none of
the interns who had attended at least two years of training were required to
attend. The growth of the program and the attempt to reduce the cost to
sponsoring organizations of the different sites prompted the decision to make the
changes in the meeting and training schedule. These changes especially
affected the West Coast sites. The Bayview site had paid between $8,000 and
$12,000 per year for travel to Tennessee in the three previous years, depending
upon the number of interns in the program. The California sites’ expenses for
travel were usually higher than all other areas of the country and hampered the
development and continuance of the program in the state. Thus, the reduction in
the number of trips also reduced the cost and opened the possibilities for other
sites on the West Coast. A potential change that will impact the development of
West Coast sites is the pending development of regional training sites. If regional
training is developed, national trainers will come to a centralized city in each
region and provide training, which will again reduce the cost of training to the
local sponsors and possibly encourage the development of new sites.
Most of the Freedom School sites run primarily during the summer for six
to eight weeks beginning around the third week in June. The theme of the
summer program is "I can make a difference" with the sub-themes of making a
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difference "in my self," "my famiiy," "my community," "my country," and "my
world." The goal of the summer curriculum is to teach participants in the program
that what they do is significant and to make a positive impact wherever they go.
Four sites piloted a year-round program that included after school
programs in 1999. The Bayview site began a year-round program in September
2000. The Bayview year-round program runs as a six-to-six program, which
provides care and a learning environment before and after the regular school
program. During the year-round program most sites use the same curriculum
used in the summer for a week so that it is now used for one month. Also
interspersed between each month of the regular "I can make a difference"
curriculum is a seasonal celebration that includes a Fall Fest in October, a Winter
Wonderland in December, a Season of Love in February and a Spring Fling in
April.
Four Freedom School programs are used as examples of the current
programs. These programs are the Rheedlen Center in New York, the Jamison
Memorial Church in St. Louis, Missouri, the Philadelphia Unified School District,
and the Petersburg, Virginia program. All of these programs have had at least
one year of involvement with the CDF/BCCC Freedom School program. The
Rheedlen, one of the early Freedom Schools in the CDF/BCCC family, began in
1993. Rheedlen is one of the only programs in the country sponsored by a large
community development group. The St. Louis program began in 1997 and is
sponsored by a church in the Black community. The St. Louis program is
symbolic of most of the Freedom Schools. The St. Louis program was also
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chosen because it was the site of the 1847 program. The Philadelphia program is
one of the newest and most unique programs. It began in 1999 as one of two
programs with the public school as a sponsor. The other school-sponsored site
was in Pasadena, California, but it only ran for one year, with modifications to the
program. The Petersburg site began in 1997 and participated with CDF/BCCC in
only one year, 1998. In 1999 the Petersburg Freedom School became an
independent site again and has maintained the Freedom School program for four
years.
Rasuli Lewis, the Program Director of Rheedlen Center for Children and
Families, discussed the Freedom School sites run by the Center in Harlem and
Manhattan. Lewis is also the regional representative and a trainer for CDF. The
executive director at Rheedlen is on the CDF Board. Lewis's work with youth and
the community began in his hometown, Newark, New Jersey. He was a teen
during the civil rights movement and paid close attention to the things that were
happening in the country. At eighteen, Rasuli Lewis became involved in
community development and the African Free Schools in Newark. The African
Free Schools, similar to the Freedom Schools, were community based, Afro-
centric, and localized to a community and its needs; however, unlike the
Freedom School, the African Free Schools were an alternative to the public
schools. Many of these schools developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Lewis also worked as a community developer in Atlanta prior to coming to
Rheedlen Center.
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The Rheedlen Center has worked in the area of community development
and educational support for more than thirty years. Lewis stated, "We began
working with schools specifically as homework help and after-school programs,
basically truancy prevention and drop-out prevention type of programs. But, now
we have some programs that are stand alones and are actually located in areas
outside of the school system, because they do work." Rheedlen's services
encompass the needs of all facets of the community including senior services,
community and block development, homeless support, family support services,
and technology training. Additionally, the Center provides support for the public
school staff at all levels.
We coordinate primarily from the top to the bottom.... the parent, PTA
and associations being the top because it’s a community school, we start
there. If it is administrative school and it is done by the principal, we start
there. We work with everybody in the school who is providing services,
whether it be other CBOs or other aspects of the school system that are
not housed necessarily in the school, but provide services there. We talk
to the police precinct that provides the outside support and sometimes
inside support. Anybody who has anything, any impact on the children, we
strive to create a relationship with and provide supportive services so that
they can do their job better and improve the overall quality of services for
everybody.
The Freedom School ideology fit the philosophy of Rheedlen Center and
thus they adopted this program in 1993. The Center currently runs fifteen sites,
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some connected to the public schools and others in community centers and
housing projects. Lewis explained the leadership development component of the
Rheedlen Freedom School. He stated,
W e targeted a group of folks, several leaders in the Freedom Schools, our
young adults, who during the 70s, and 80s . . . and most of the 90s were
beginning to be identified and then were identified as the primary problem
. . . college professors all over the country were using [them] as an
example of the super predator syndrome. Young urban kids being
developed at a very early age to become super predators, super criminals
when they became adults making all of our young adults suspect in
everybody's eyes who had authority and we thought, you know, when we
first started doing our program, we had to do something to counter that.
These are the young people Rheedlen chose as leaders. The young people
identified as predators accepted, believed, and acted out this role. The goal of
identifying this same group as potential leaders and providing the training for the
young people allowed them to see the alternative for their lives. The young
people in the Rheedlen program moved from a mindset of criminality to one of
leadership in social change. Lewis noted that the Freedom School program
"provides an opportunity for young people to begin to develop their own personal
skills . . . deliver services and they can also deliver a capacity [within] themselves
to be successful and competitive in the real world."
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Another sponsoring agency, Jamison Memorial Church, runs two Freedom
School sites in St. Louis, Missouri and was instrumental in beginning a program
in East St. Louis, Illinois lasting two years. The project director of the program is
Lillian Curlett, who left an administrative job in banking to work for the church in
community and social development. Ms. Curlett is also the director of Jamison's
Human Resources and Development Agency. Ms. Curlett has a degree in
business and another degree in leadership with an emphasis in women in
leadership. Ms. Curlett did not participate in a formal interview, but she arranged
for interviews with two of the funding agencies and two staff persons.
The St. Louis Freedom Schools began in 1997 with one site at Jamison
Memorial serving fifty children. In the program's second year of operation two
additional sites were added. Although Ms. Curlett introduced the Freedom School
idea to, and wrote the initial grants for, the East St. Louis site, it did not operate
as part of the Jamison program once the grants were acquired. The sponsoring
church felt that there was a potential conflict in having a Missouri program handle
funds that were primarily given by the state of Illinois.
Ronald Jackson of Interact St. Louis in 1996, an organization founded by
Senator John Danforth, introduced the Freedom School idea to Jamison. Mr.
Jackson learned about the Freedom School programs in 1995 from an article and
later, in 1996, by attending a CDF Conference. Jackson noted, "Interact St. Louis
is an organization that was originally set up to work with, be a facilitator between
churches or congregations across race and faith lines to get them to do programs
for children, mentoring and tutoring programs with schools, youth serving
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agencies or at the church themselves. As we moved through the program, we
began to become interested in everyday programs during the summer and after
school, and my board asked me to find some good programs. So I looked at the
Freedom School and it seemed to be a program that matched our interests, so I
pursued it with the people at Jamison."
The Freedom School program fit the goals of both Jamison and Interact
St. Louis. Each group was seeking to make a positive social change within their
community, especially with youth. Mr. Jackson noted several aspects of the
programs that matched the goals of Interact. The Freedom School program
provided a safe, fun, and nurturing place for children in the summer. Next the
Freedom School program emphasized learning especially in the area of literacy.
The involvement of parents and the community were very much in line with the
goals of Interact. The greatest plus for Mr. Jackson was the cultural component.
Jackson noted,
It had a Black cultural orientation. That was very important to me. From
my perspective, one of the biggest problems that Black people in America
have is the identity question. We don't know who we are and I think that
the cultural component of the Freedom School is a way of helping Black
youth learn something about who they. So to me that is very important
because if you don't know who you are then it is very easy to be confused,
as we are. This is something that can help lessen the confusion.
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The outcome of the confusion Jackson saw was destruction of seif and others.
Mr. Jackson felt that several areas of dysfunction were the result of that
confusion including gangs, drug abuse, family problems, and financial problems.
This "identity diffusion" as Ronald Jackson labels it, is one of the primary things
the Freedom School helps to alleviate for the children, interns, and others
involved in the program.
A joint interview was held with Seteria Austin and Deborah Boyd, the site
coordinators of the two St. Louis Freedom Schools. Seteria Austin is the site
coordinator at Jamison; Deborah Boyd is the site coordinator at Hopewell,
another church in the city, that joined forces with Jamison. Both site coordinators
work in education when not involved with the Freedom School. Ms. Austin was a
guidance counselor by training but is now a special education teacher. Ms.
Austin was also a mentor teacher to the program during the first year. Mrs. Boyd
works in early childhood education.
Both Mrs. Boyd and Ms. Austin have had first hand experience with the
children, interns, and national staff. They provided insight into each of these
areas. Mrs. Boyd noted that the national training gave her a greater knowledge of
the children and interns she would work with as well as the needs she would
encounter. She noted that the national training helped her understand what it
took to overcome the everyday challenges the children faced. She noted,
I had the opportunity to step out of my safety zone a little bit, I think, that
was the purpose of that [the trainingjis to also help children to step out of
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their safety zone. [For me] ihat was with the 60-foot tower that i attempted
to climb. I didn’t go too high, but I did pass my safety zone. I went to my
tower, and it helped me to see and feel what a child might be feeling when
he is there, going beyond their boundaries, when they don’t have
knowledge of something or may be afraid of.
Beyond the understanding of the challenges faced by the children, Mrs. Boyd
increased her own knowledge and understanding of Black history, something she
felt was lacking in the school system. The national training also helped her
recognize all of the resources for children in the African American community,
including literature and human resources." Sometimes when you are just in your
city, you don't realize how many people that are nationwide are really concerned
with the development of the young Black child, and when I got there to see the
positiveness of everybody, you know, and the program, the people that helped to
develop the program, the curriculum and the type of materials and the type of
books, I had not even imagined that there were so many different Black books,
positive books for children and myself and [other] adults." Mrs. Boyd's comments
reflected the desire to build and have an intergenerational model in Freedom
School to pass knowledge from one generation to another. All participants at
every level are taught to make a difference.
Ms. Austin provided insight into the goals of the program and the parent's
participation of the Freedom School participants. When asked what she would
categorize as the most important goal of the program Ms. Austin stated, "I think it
is the goal [of building] appreciation for learning." She noted that all of this
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learning isn't from books but also includes the many activities and experiences
the children are exposed to as participants in the program. The student's reaction
to the Freedom School was very different from the usual reaction to school per
Ms. Austin. She expressed this as she explained how the children shared what
they learned in Freedom School with their parents.
I think I know that [the educational piece of the program] is working
because the parents would come to parent meetings and have knowledge
that had been imparted from their children to them. The parents could tell
you things that were going on in Freedom School, and I think that is
probably different because, speaking as a mom, my son would always
come home and [the exchange would go], "How was school today? Okay.
What did you learn today? I don't know." But I think if they did the same
thing in Freedom School, there is evidence that the response was
probably different because there were parents that knew what Harambee
was and what it meant. They knew some of the songs and chants and
some of the affirmations that we did. So there is evidence that there was
some dialogue going on. So that to me is . . . one of the greatest
evidences that learning took place. They [the children] were able to go
home and teach it [what they had learned] to others and pass it around
the community.
Ms. Austin was asked if there was any other evidence of a positive
outcome as a result of participation in the Freedom School program. Although
there was no statistical data to cite, Ms. Austin had anecdotal data to show that
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Freedom Schools were making a difference. Some teachers were able to see
something different in their students, although they didn't know what it was.
"They go back to school not dull, but sharp, because they have done something
real positive, and at the beginning of the school year they have something to talk
about." Ms. Austin spoke about one grandparent who brought her grandson to
Freedom School every morning and stated, "I don't know what you all are doing
in this Freedom School, but boy my kid . . . wants to come." The grandmother
shared the story that all year long she had to fight her grandson, who was either
in kindergarten or first grade, to get him to school everyday and he would go
crying but for Freedom School her grandson would rush her. As a teacher Ms.
Austin was noting a difference in the participation in Freedom School from that
she regularly saw. There was “an energy” in the Freedom School that was not
seen in the public school, and it was apparent in the atmosphere of the program.
There was a buzz, or a roar, of energy that went through the program daily.
The Philadelphia Unified School District adopted the Freedom School
program in 1999. Dr. Greg Carr, a race relation’s specialist for the district, agreed
to participate in the interview process, but due to scheduling problems, he was
unable to follow through. Despite the lack of an interview there was extensive
information available on the program. Prior to the school district’s involvement in
the program, there were two Freedom School sites in the Philadelphia area, one
run by the Philadelphia Women's Christian Alliance and the other by the Friends
Neighborhood Guild. One of the goals of the program is the institutionalization of
the Freedom School, and one of the means used to accomplish this was to have
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the community aware of the program. The institutionalization of the Freedom
School program, per Barbara Kelley-Duncan, the Vice President of Leadership
Development and BCCC, “means to make the Freedom School such an integral
part of the community that it grows and is maintained by more than the
sponsoring agency. One component of the program is the ‘child watch.’
Community organizations and individuals are invited to observe the program. In
Kansas City, Missouri, the community has become aware of the program
because of the child watch and support the program so much that the project
director, Mrs. Caroline Booker, feels that the community would not let the
program end even if the church wanted it to.” Through the child watch the
Philadelphia Unified School District and the Mayor's Community Service Group
became aware of the program through the programs run by the Philadelphia
Women's Christian Alliance and the Friends Neighborhood Guild. This
awareness resulted in a growth in the program. In 1999 the participation in
Philadelphia went from two sites to eleven. During the summer of 2000 the
participation increased to 27 sites. Each increase was due to the school district’s
participation.
The Philadelphia Unified School District (PUSD) has set one grade as
benchmarks, the fourth grade. They fund the program for children in the fourth
grade and below. The program must find grants like the other programs for the
children in the higher grades. The participation of PUSD will add another
component to the program; a greater level of statistical data will come out of the
participation of PUSD. Kozol (1967) is among many researchers who have noted
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that African Americans who started with the same enthusiasm and potential of
other children in school had fallen behind by the fourth grade. The involvement of
PUSD will provide data on this trend and the potential for changing it.
The Freedom School is only part of Philadelphia's strategy for making the
city a safer place for children. The educational component is very important but
the city has developed an all-encompassing approach to changing their
community. Dr. Paul Finks, a psychiatrist from Philadelphia, made a presentation
to the International Conference on Family Violence on September 27, 2000. In
his presentation Finks introduced a committee called the Philadelphia
Interdisciplinary Youth Fatality Review Team that was convened in 1993. This
committee brings several community groups together to develop an
interdisciplinary approach to address community problems. Dr. Finks explained
the development of the interdisciplinary team by citing other programs that
provided models for Philadelphia to follow. Boston was cited by Dr. Finks as one
of the community collaboratives used as an example for the development of the
Philadelphia team. One of the organizational members of this collaborative was
Boston's Ten Point Coalition. This coalition produced what he called "the Boston
Miracle," which reduced youth-related murders and violence to zero for two and a
half years. Parker (1997) explained what and who the Ten Point Coalition was in
an article about the Freedom School, sponsored by the organization in 1994.
Parker noted "Several area pastors responded [to gang violence that had
invaded the church] with 'A Ten Point Proposal for Citywide Church Mobilization
to Combat the Material and Spiritual Sources of Black-on-Black Violence." One
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of the group's primary modes of attacking the problems of the Boston inner city
was the reproduction of the 1964 Freedom Summer including a Freedom School.
All of the specifics regarding the developmental process related to the
Philadelphia Unified School Districts involvement in the Freedom School program
are not known; this warrants further research. The community was looking for a
way to prevent violence and death of youth in the community. Dr. Finks noted
that most of the violence occurred between the hours of three and seven and
during the summer when children were out of school. Much of the violence was
committed by youth who were not doing well in school, so the educational system
became a major component in the prevention of violence and death. The
community collaboration that was developed was consistent with the Freedom
School approach of Philadelphia and thus was a natural outgrowth of the
process.
The final Freedom School program reviewed is the Petersburg, Virginia
program. This program began in 1997 as an independent program sponsored by
the Community of Shalom, a social services and community service arm of the
United Methodist Church. The community of Shalom works with economically
distressed communities throughout the county. Victoria Adams, a community
activist in Petersburg who was also involved with the SNCC Freedom School as
an advisor, prompted the organization’s involvement in the Freedom School
program. Mrs. Adams was interviewed but primarily for the historical perspective
of the Freedom School, although she did have some comments pertinent to the
difference in the Petersburg Freedom School and the CDF/BCCC programs. The
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primary informants for the Petersburg program were Dwaia Ferreii and Mike
Watts, who were both part of the Community of Shalom.
Mike Watts explained the work of the Community of Shalom, the
program’s goals, and how that led to the involvement with the Freedom School
program. A component of the training for the work in distressed communities
included an exploration of the community "to look at what the community has,
what their assets are and backwards [opposite] from what people see when they
look at communities such as ours, they generally see what is missing." Both
those who live within the community and those from outside of the community
are exposed to this training. Mike noted that the program went beyond finding the
assets of the community." We went through a series of trainings to develop the
way to find and develop the assets of a community and then build on those, in
doing that training, we picked up the idea through Ms. Adams, who has always
been a trainable mind to find some way to build on the assets of these young
children. And so we moved from that asset-based training to a way to involve the
kids in other educational experiences and so, the Freedom School was kind of
the outgrowth...Freedom School was an outgrowth of those beginnings." The
Freedom School model fit the goals set out by the Community of Shalom.
The Petersburg program joined the CDF/BCCC Freedom School group
after operating independently for one year. In 1998 members of the Petersburg
staff participated in the national training presented by CDF in Clinton, Tennessee
and ran their program in accordance with the program guidelines for one
summer. After comparing the CDF model with their initial model, the Petersburg
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program decided to continue to run independently. Dwala Ferreii, who
participated in all of the CDF/BCCC training and the debriefing at the end of the
summer, explained the reasoning behind the Petersburg program's move to
remain independent. "It was a lot of time spent sitting still reading and the
literature often was very difficult for our children. They seemed to prefer a lot
more interactive styles of learning and it seemed to be .. .a learning style that
just appealed to one type of learning .... We didn't have the problems the year
before that we had last year." Although Ms. Ferrell noted that the programs were
not totally different but, the outcomes they saw for the students were more
positive with the techniques they had adopted prior to joining the national
program.
Victoria Adams also felt that the program developed in Petersburg was
better for the students because it meet their special needs.
The children of our church happen to be located in what you might call a
marginalized or blighted neighborhood. So the children that we serve are
very needy, in more ways than you can probably imagine. Many of them
are products of children having children. They have not had in their lives
structure or discipline. The mothers, of course, most of them come from
one-parent homes, of the sort just described. There is a tremendous lack
of primary needs, affection, understanding of how to deal with problems,
extremely needy young people. I dare say that CDF is probably designed
to target a different category, not totally, but a bit.
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Although Mrs. Adams felt the population served in Petersburg was different from
those served by CDF, but this is exactly the population identified by all Freedom
Schools. Although the target population for the CDF/BCCC Freedom School
program is the low-income inner-city areas and the rural poor areas, the program
is open to all children. The Bayview site in San Diego takes students on a first-
come first-serve basis but still tries to assure that at least 50% of the students
come from single parent and low-income families.
The CDF/BCCC program differs because it has literacy as one of the
major goals, while the Petersburg program follows an interactive model that
totally immerses their students into the different eras of Black history. Mike Watts
stated that immersion into the culture of the time includes wearing the dress,
eating the food, listening to the music and arranging the setting of the room to
simulate the period studied. 'The first week, we had it on Pre-Colombian African
culture. The second week was the period of enslavement. The third week was
the time of reconstruction. The fourth week was the sixties and civil rights."
Expounding on the civil rights movement Watts noted, "We played all sorts of
rhythm and blues, and they were hearing and seeing speeches from King and
Malcolm X." During the final week all of the weeks of learning were pulled
together in a performance." The children in the Petersburg program are taught to
write their own scripts, create their own dances and create their own artwork to
symbolize the information they learned during the summer program.
The methods used by the four different Freedom School programs
identified here differ, but similarities are found in their purposes. One difference
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found in the Petersburg program is the ongoing contact with the students who
participated in the summer program. Home visits are made to the children and
their families during the summer and throughout the year. Both Ms. Ferrell and
Mr. Watts felt that the relationship they built with the family and the children
through these contacts was one of the major factors that made the program
work. Many of the CDF/BCCC Freedom Schools also maintain a closer
relationship with the families they serve, but it is not as integral a part of the
training for the program as it is in Petersburg. Each program is encouraged to
shape its program to meet the needs of the community it serves.
All of the Freedom Schools share a desire to teach the children they
serve, their families, as well as the staff that works in the program, to view the
community and the history of the people in a different light than is usually taught.
Mike Watts again provides insight into this component of the program.
We spent a lot of time learning history from a positive viewpoint,
something that I had never been exposed to in my own school. I was
raised in Alabama . . . there wasn't much emphasis on any kind of a
positive aspect of African American history. I didn't even learn that the
Indians weren't half glad to see us until I was halfway through college. We
spent a lot of time learning it from different perspectives and [there were] a
lot of surprises in areas for people much younger than we are. So I find
that at times consuming. I find that enlightening. I find that at times
challenging. Troubling."
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Much of the time at national training for the CDF Freedom Schools is also spent
training everyone to look at history in a different way from how most of the
participants were taught in public schools.
Another similarity is found in the use of community people, especially
college students, to teach the children. The use of people from the community
builds upon the intergenerational model seen in all Freedom Schools in 1964 and
currently. Community participation also points to the fact that everyone has
something to add to the teaching and has a stake in the development of children.
During the 1964 programs the college students who came from outside of the
community, especially the White students, faced one of the greatest challenges.
Most African Americans, especially in Mississippi, had never had the type of
positive relationship with a White person like those they had with the Freedom
School workers (Carson, 1995; Dittmer, 1995; Grant, 1998; Holt, 1992; McAdam,
1998; Payne, 1997). Mistrust and fear made the development of a relationship
with the Freedom School workers in 1964 harder. Community people are the
primary staff in most of the Freedom Schools today. Dwala Ferrell and Mike
Watts both spoke of the challenge they expected to face coming into a
predominantly Black community as Whites, but they did not find the same
challenge that was faced in Mississippi.
The Freedom Schools that started in the 1990s all see a different enemy
than the one faced in 1964. In 1964 the enemy was overt racism but all of those
interviewed felt that the enemy is subtler today. Inner city and rural poor Blacks
have accepted a self-perception that is negative and are acting out this
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negativism in aii aspects of their lives. Rasuii Lewis noted it when he spoke of
changing the attitude of the "super predators." Seteria Austin and Deborah Boyd
spoke of it when they spoke of parents and children who were surprised about
the ability of the participants to leam so much while enjoying learning. Dwala
Ferrell and Mike Watts spoke of it when they had to releam that everyone had
something to offer and had to leam to understand what the children and their
families were dealing with. The enemy today is more sophisticated and harder to
fight. Most Blacks as well as Whites still are not taught any positive aspects
about African Americans unless they make an effort; further this is rarely taught
inside of the public school. Separate classes on Black history are offered in
college, but many of the students and their parents don’t get to this level of
education.
Analysis of Data
The analysis of this data began with an analysis of the first three
categories in the literature review, Race and Blacks in America, The Education of
Blacks in America, and the Freedom School. The literature review is combined
with the interviews to gain further insight. These three areas provide information
regarding the social, political, and educational environments that spawned the
Freedom School programs. Patterns in the literature and interviews were sought.
After determining the patterns in these areas of the literature review, tables were
developed to show what change had occurred in each area. A connection
between the first three areas of the literature review and interviews was then
sought. This data was used to answer the first research question: What social,
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political, and educational factors led to the development of both Freedom
Schools?
The literature review combined with interviews also provided insight into
the underlying assumptions and philosophies of the 1964 and CDF/BCCC
Freedom Schools (Question #2). The assumptions and philosophies relate to the
goals, proposed length of the program, and the population served. The SNCC
Freedom School philosophies were compared and contrasted with those of the
CDF/BCCC Freedom School.
Next the leadership in the SNCC and CDF/BCCC programs is the focus of
the analysis. Ella Baker is an essential part of the leadership of both programs,
so a specific look at her leadership style is important. The importance and unique
characteristics of Miss Baker’s leadership, in addition to the means of sharing
that leadership with others, are also points of focus. The choice of Miss Baker’s
ideas of leadership by those in the CDF/BCCC program is also explored. This
exploration of leadership answers the third question of this research.
The leadership of the Freedom School program is compared with two
different philosophies of leadership, group centered and transformational
leadership. The group interaction in each of these philosophies of leadership is
important. The Freedom School leadership is compared and contrasted with
each of these theories of leadership. Ella Baker called the leadership she tried to
develop group centered. This researcher believes that the leadership exhibited
by Ella Baker and those participating in the Freedom School program is
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transformational. The analysis of the data will determine if this is true. This
portion of the analysis answers the fourth question.
Question #1
What social, political, and educational factors led to the development of the SNCC and CDF/BCCC Freedom School programs?
The factors that led to the earlier Freedom School were clear. This fact
was true of the 1847 and 1964 Freedom School. In 1847 slavery was still a major
social structure in America, although the sentiments against slavery were
growing (Anonymous, 1996; Anonymous, 1999; Armstrong, 1993; Daniel, 1990;
Fishkin, 1997; Holt, 1995). John Berry Meachum was a self-taught slave who
eventually bought his own freedom. After gaining freedom he began one of the
first Black churches in St. Louis. He began teaching other Blacks, both free and
slaves, to read in a church-run school called Tallow school. The 1847 Missouri
law against teaching Blacks to read prompted Meachum to move his school to
federal territory in the middle of the Mississippi River. Meachum was undaunted
in his efforts to share education as an avenue to freedom for other Blacks, and
the Freedom School was an important part of that education. The Freedom
School was an outgrowth of the social, political and educational conditions of the
time. African Americans were considered socially less than human and lacking
the rights of other citizens during slavery. Blacks had no power or rights, neither
political nor legal. Education was denied in practice and by law.
The 1964 the Freedom School was also an outgrowth of the social,
political and educational environment. The end of slavery began a new era of
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almost one hundred years of social segregation. The strict lines of separation of
Blacks from Whites began soon after emancipation. There was a short period
during the reconstruction period when Blacks gained some political power, but
that was short-lived (Comer, 1988; Gossett, 1971; Haskins, 1998; Jordan, 1969;
Meltzer, 1970; Walter, 1996; Zinn, 1990). After reconstruction, the political and
legal rights of African Americans were again lost. Throughout the South, only a
small number of Blacks were registered to vote between the time of
reconstruction and the civil rights era. Most attempts to register were met with
violence.
Educationally, as well as socially, there were strict lines of separation
between the Blacks and Whites. There were fewer schools for African
Americans. Most schooling for African American went to the eighth grade only
(Brown, 1996; Haskins, 1998; Meltzer, 1970; Walter, 1996). The largest number
of Blacks continued to live in southern states where this separation was the most
prevalent. This separation and distinction in all areas of life served to maintain a
difference in status between African Americans and Whites.
In the midst of the civil rights movement and these inequalities, the SNCC
Freedom School was bom. The Freedom School was not one of the primary
goals of the movement. The many young people who were part of SNCC sought
to make immediate and substantial changes in the system in Mississippi that
made Blacks less than second class citizens. The Freedom School program did
not exactly fit this goal, because it was a consequence of the influx of northern
college students who volunteered to spend the summer in Mississippi. Socially,
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the state was in turmoil because of the drastic changes the civil rights workers
were trying to make in a system that had existed since the states, inception;
those in power were trying to combat that change. The local Blacks were
previously controlled by the threat of violence, but this strategy was no longer
working. Mississippi became the focal point of the civil rights movement in 1964.
Politically, both the state and federal courts passed laws to maintain the
status quo. The laws and the interpretations of the law were consistent in both
courts and stood in Mississippi, unless they were appealed to a higher court
(Holt, 1992). The judges in both courts gained their position because of the
powerful friends they had, and in Mississippi those with power were seeking to
maintain their position of control. Any civil rights case that made it to the federal
courts was characterized by delay.
The state of Mississippi, the church-burning capital of the world, did not
like its citizens to testify about the denial of civil rights and passed a state
law making it a Mississippi offense for a person to give false information to
any federal officer or agency, the definition of false being anything that
Mississippi didn't like. (Holt, 1992, p. 59)
When the word of the impending Freedom Summer activities got to those
in power in Mississippi, the state prepared for an invasion; laws were passed to
prevent the summer activities. Holt noted that in Jackson alone: the police force
was almost doubled; new rifles were bought and mounted in visible places in
squad cars and on motorcycles; trucks were converted to paddy wagons and a
Thompson tank was bought.
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Legislation was passed allowing counties and cities to borrow police from
each other. One law provided for massive quarantine (house arrest)
"where there is imminent danger of public safety"; another made it a felony
to circulate material that encouraged boycotts; and another bill made it a
crime to operate a school without permission of the county clerk. (Holt,
1992, p. 38)
The civil rights workers also tried to prepare legally for the summer
activities by testifying in Washington, D.C. about the abuse that was
commonplace in Mississippi. They had sought help from the federal government
and the FBI very early in the movement, but the usual response was that they
were only an investigative agency or that they were only observers (Dittmer,
1994; Holt, 1995; McAdam, 1988; Payne, 1995). The FBI was present on many
of the occasions when Blacks were beaten by mobs. They observed and took
notes, but they did not try to intervene in any of the situations.
The plight of the civil rights workers did not go totally unobserved by the
outside world. The activities in the South were known to other college students
around the country and prompted many to join the battle for equality. Black
students entered the battle for equality in 1961 with the sit-ins. Many other
students from predominantly White middle and upper class communities entered
the civil rights movement early in 1964. The presence of White middle class and
rich students from the North changed the response of the government and the
nation. Attention was immediately focused on the problem of civil rights in
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Mississippi. The social and civil rights of Whites were guarded more closely than
those of Blacks.
The pending influx of students from the North during the summer of 1964
required the civil rights workers to find appropriate places for the students to work
in the movement. Education became the focus of the workers since the students
coming to Mississippi were from many of the best schools in the nation. The
status of education of Blacks in Mississippi changed little from the time of
reconstruction to the time of civil rights (Haskins, 1998; Meltzer, 1970; Walter,
1996). In many areas Black children were still only allowed to go to school when
they were not needed in the fields. The money spent on schools for Blacks fell far
below that spent on schools for Whites. The quality of the facilities and supplies
was deplorable, and in most Black schools the curriculum was controlled and
limited.
The Freedom School directly addressed these educational inequalities in
1964, while the rest of the civil rights movement attacked the other inequalities in
Mississippi. Although Mississippi was the immediate target, it was only symbolic
of the problems that were not isolated to the southern states. Holt noted "major
victories in Mississippi, recognized as the stronghold of racial intolerance in the
South, would speed immeasurably the breaking down of legal and social
discrimination in both North and South" (p. 48).
The changes in America for African Americans after the civil rights
movement, especially those in Mississippi, when viewed from a superficial
perspective, are great. Despite this, the perspective sought in this research was
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more in-depth and from the perspective of those who lived it. Victoria Adams,
one of the persons with first-hand knowledge of both programs, consented to an
interview. Mrs. Adams is a native of Mississippi and was active in the civil rights
movement before and after Freedom School. One of her most interesting
statements came when asked about the changes that have occurred in her home
state. She began by stating, "It has changed immensely. As a matter of fact, I'm
teaching a class at the University of Southern Mississippi this semester. . . W e
had a guest lecturer and after class we had dinner, and we were talking about
the things in this state. One of the things we agreed quite clearly was that
everything has changed and nothing has changed." Victoria Adams was born
and raised in Hattiesburg, Mississippi but now resides in Virginia, she is the
driving force behind a Freedom School in Petersburg. She was in Hattiesburg at
the time of this interview for a year as an adjunct professor. An additional
question was asked to understand the comment "everything has changed,
nothing has changed." In response Mrs. Adams stated, "Four years ago I would
not have been able to do anything at the University of Southern Mississippi
except sweep floors and clean toilets or prepare food." The very idea of having
an African American as a professor at the university was a drastic change from
the past. Another change was the class being taught, Civil Rights History. During
the civil rights movement and before, teachers were restricted from mentioning
that there was a movement; nothing in the schools was being taught about the
movement. The students taking her class were Black and White. The mixed
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population in her classroom is a symbol of another change that had occurred in
the state.
Mrs. Adams' only experience in integrated classes as a youth occurred
when she was about seven. She left Mississippi for one year and went to Detroit.
She stated, "I went to school with White kids. That was totally unheard of, un
thought of experience. I performed exceptionally well there, to the surprise of the
teacher. I returned home after a year, but knowing that the way we lived was not
the only way to live, because even at eight, nine, ten years old, I could tell the
difference in the quality of life where people knew how to coexist with other
people." This was one of the greatest changes noted.
Although things have changed, they have also stayed the same. Even
though both Black and White students were combined in the same college class
they still came to the class with different attitudes about the subject, civil rights.
The White students are still taught about the outside agitators who came and
caused unrest and problems in Mississippi; Mrs. Adams stated, "for them it was a
blaming experience." Unfortunately many of the Black students still know very
little about the history of the state, especially as it relates to Black history and the
history of the civil rights movement. 'The Black kids don't realize that there was a
time that they could not come to the University of Southern Mississippi. So
communication, education, effective authentic education about themselves, the
movement, the history, the place, the whole bit - there is a tremendous gap
there. Where there are things that are no longer controllable by the powers that
be, there are other things that are still very much under control, like what's going
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to get out of there and what is not going to get out of there." Much of the
education in the earlier grades of school is still controlled. The change and lack
of change is not limited to Mississippi.
Socially, African Americans have moved from a slavery system that
excluded them from the human comforts afforded most people in this country, to
one that professes total inclusion. A closer look at the 400 to 500 years of Black
inhabitation of this country shows that the changes for a large portion of the
population are more minimal than first thought. After slavery the social changes
that occurred echoed the same sentiment expressed by Victoria Adams,
"everything [had] changed and nothing [had] changed." The review of literature
showed many of the changes that occurred either left the freemen in the same
place or, in some cases, even worse off. Slaves became freemen but many of
them stayed on the farms and plantations. For the freedmen, socially most things
stayed the same, with Blacks doing the same work they were doing prior to
emancipation but without the security of having their needs met by the owners of
the farms. Those who left the farm were often homeless and unable to find work
if they stayed in the South. Many of the Blacks who migrated to the North also
struggled to find work and shelter. During the early years of emancipation,
especially during the reconstruction period, many former slaves devoted their
time to finding "accommodations that equaled those afforded whites" (Litwack,
1999, p. 230). Black Codes and other laws with the goal of maintaining
segregation of the races replaced the institution of slavery. Although many of
these legal measures did not survive during the time of the reconstruction
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government as laws, they did continue in practice. Litwack notes that neither the
Black nor White population of the time made any effort to integrate.
The brutality of the owners and forced labor of slavery gave way to
random brutality from almost any source and the forced labor of sharecropping or
imprisonment. This new social system, or vestiges of it, lasted for approximately
one hundred years in most areas of the country where large numbers of Blacks
lived.
The next social change did not occur until the civil rights period. Up until
that time the Jim Crow laws continued to enforce the separation of the ethnic
groups and the distinction of the perceived nature of the two groups. Litwack
(1999) expressed this as he identified the distinction in public signs: "White
Ladies" versus "Colored Women" on restrooms (p. 238). These signs were
symbolic of the respect given to one group and absent from the other.
For all Blacks, whatever their age, education, or social class, Jim Crow
was a daily affront, a reminder of the distinctive place 'white folks' had
marked out for them - a confirmation of their inferiority and baseness in
the eyes of the dominant population. What the white South insisted on
was not so much separation as subordination, a system of control in which
whites prescribed the rules of racial conduct and contact and meted out
the punishment. . . The laws made no exception among blacks based on
class or education; indeed the laws functioned on one level to remind
black people that no matter how educated, wealthy, or respectable they
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might be, they were still not entitled to equal treatment with the poorest
and most degraded whites. (Litwack, 1999, p. 238)
Politically, Blacks moved from having no legal rights as human beings and
citizens of America to a short period, the reconstruction period, where they
helped to rule their destiny. Reconstruction soon gave way to intimidation and
brutality for anyone who tried to practice their legal rights as a citizen. The legal
system had different rules and penalties for the former slaves than those for the
White population. Examples of this treatment were found in the writings of
several writers including Daniel (1990), Grant (1998), Haskins (1998), Jordan
(1969), Litwack (1999), Oshinsky (1996) and Zinn (1990). These differences
began at the end of slavery and continued until the civil rights period without any
means of protection for the predominant portion of the African American
population that continued to live in the South. Oshinsky (1996) noted that during
the early years after emancipation, any legal charge brought against a Black
person could place them in prison for ten years to life, while even charges of
murder by Whites usually went untried, especially if it was a crime against a
Black person.
Daniel (1990) provided several accounts of the failed legal system when
addressing the complaints of Blacks. One account in 1903 was of Dillard
Freeman, a Black laborer in Alabama, who was beaten and held against his will
by a local sheriff. Although he was beaten nearly to death, he was later chained
to a bed and then forced to work in the sheriffs field for two days later. When
Freeman tried to bring charges against the sheriff, he was met in the halls of the
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courthouse and threatened. Additionally the sheriff sent men to the home of his
family and threatened them. This form of intimidation was ongoing.
Litwack (1999) showed that even within the courthouse during trials, the
judges perpetrated even blatant forms of discrimination.
During a trial in W ake County Superior Court in Raleigh in 1906, the
deputy sheriff handed a character witness a Bible for administering oaths.
But the presiding judge, believing the light-colored witness, E. A. Johnson,
to be a white man, reprimanded the deputy for giving him the wrong Bible.
'That one over there is the one for the use of whitepeople"... Although
seemingly a trivial matter, what the Jim Crow Bible symbolized about the
double standard of justice in southern courts had far-reaching and deeply
serious implications. Twenty years after the abolition of slavery, equal
justice under the law remained an elusive goal for black Southerners.
(Litwack, 1999, p. 246)
Haskins (1998), Zinn (1990) and other writers about the civil rights era
showed that the incidents of inequality by the legal system and in social settings
continued. Several attempts were made to get protection from the Federal
Government, but until 1964 none was provided. From the time of reconstruction
and the passage of the Fourteenth Amendment, many Blacks expected equal
protection by the law. Equality was not forthcoming until after the civil rights
movement in many cases.
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The educational policies moved from laws against educating Blacks during
slavery to providing minimal education during reconstruction; that education
continued to lag behind the education provided for others as well as the quality
needed to be full and equally productive citizens of the time. Brown (1996),
Haskins (1998), Walter (1996), and Zinn (1990) among others showed the
differential funding of schools for Blacks from emancipation throughout the civil
rights era. Wilson and Ferris (1989) noted that differential funding began during
reconstruction but the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson case that legalized "separate-
but-equal" facilities "led to increased patterns for underfunding black education"
(p. 151). This system of developing separate schools for African Americans
expanded in practice. The difference was noted in the number of schools
available to Blacks as compared to Whites, the content of the education, and the
physical state of the facilities and educational material used. Grant (1998) and
Meltzer (1970) showed that up until the civil rights era many Black children were
only able to go to school when they were not needed to work in the fields.
The inequalities in the schools were thus a product of law as well as
practice. Greenberg (1994) provided an exhaustive account of court cases
brought forth by NAACP educational legal forces against educational
discrimination, beginning with the college system and proceeding to the public
school system. The laws beginning at the end of the nineteenth century and
during the first six decades of the twentieth century shaped the education of
Blacks. These inequalities in the social, political, and educational systems, that
existed for a century shaped the development of the Freedom School in 1964.
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The problems faced were blatant and easily identified. Many changes have
occurred since 1964. The literature review and the interviews provide some
insight into these changes.
Just as the social, political, and educational climate of the 1960s shaped
the SNCC movement and Freedom School of that period, it is believed that the
same factors shaped the activities of CDF/BCCC and the current Freedom
School. Extensive changes occurred for many Blacks between the 1964 SNCC
Freedom School and the 1992 CDF/BCCC Freedom School, but again many
things had not changed. The laws that mandated strict separation of the races in
all social settings ended. The obstacles blocking access to the political process
and voting also ended. The legal segregation of schools ended. Although many
changes occurred in the almost thirty years between the two Freedom School
programs, inequalities continued to exist in practice. The ongoing nature and
source of these inequalities is explored at this time.
Miller's (1986) exploration of the perceived biological and sociological
differences between people provides insight into the ongoing nature of the
inequality of African Americans. The ascribed differences between Blacks and
Whites include a perceived inequality and subordination. Miller’s primary focus
was on the inequality of women in society but she also examined the inequality
and subordination of African Americans. Miller’s two concepts of inequality,
temporary inequalities and permanent inequalities, define relationships of power.
Temporary inequalities are defined as those relationships in which persons with
greater ability impart their wisdom and knowledge to persons with lesser ability.
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Miiier compared this form of inequaiity to the relationship between a parent and a
child or a teacher and a student. The goal of any relationship between one of
these two parties is the facilitation of growth. The responsibility of the person with
greater ability is to help the other person develop equal abilities. Despite the
goals and responsibilities of temporary inequality relationships "we have not
found very good ways to carry out the central task: to foster the movement from
unequal to equal... Officially we want to do these things, but we often fail"
(Miller, 1986, p. 5). Even in relationships that are supposed to have time-limited
periods of inequality, subordination is ongoing because we have not learned
"howto make the journey from inequality to equality" (Miller, 1986, p. 5).
Permanent inequality, according to Miller, is defined by the ascription of
characteristics deemed inferior to one of the parties at birth. These inequalities
are based on criteria such as race, sex, class, nationality, religion, or other
characteristics. The relationship of temporary inequality has the goal of fostering
human development while, conversely, the relationship of permanent inequality
fosters oppression. 'There is no assumption that the goal of the unequal
relationship is to end the inequality; in fact, quite the reverse. A series of other
governing tendencies are in force, and occur in great regularity" (Miller, 1986, p.
6). Relationships of dominance and subordination develop based on
characteristics that are defined as inferior, substandard, or defective. The terms
and descriptions that are used about the group seen as inferior are destructive of
the subordinates. The dominant group defines the acceptable roles of the
subordinate group; these roles often involve doing service for the dominant
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group. "Subordinates are usually said to be unable to perform the preferred roles.
Their incapacities are ascribed to innate defects or deficiencies of mind or body,
therefore immutable and impossible of change or development. It becomes
difficult for dominants to even imagine that subordinates are capable of
performing preferred activities" (Miller, 1986, p. 7).
Even more destructive than the beliefs of the dominant group are those of
the subordinate group. "More importantly, subordinates themselves can come to
find it difficult to believe in their own ability" (Miller, 1986, p. 7). Erikson (1982)
used the term "psuedospeciation" to define the relationship between the two
groups. Accompanying the differences found between groups is an evaluation of
worth. Erikson noted that this psuedospeciation occurred because of the belief
that nature, history, or divine will made some people less valuable to humankind
than others. One of the consequences of a group's acceptance of a role of
subordinate is the acting out of the ascribed characteristics.
Reza (1993) explored a concept developed by Suzanne Lipsky, who
termed the forced subordination of one group and the later acceptance of this
position of subordination by the group as "internalized oppression." She noted
that persons and groups exposed to subordination overtime and through a
series of events learn to accept the oppression. Beyond accepting that
oppression, the person or group begins to oppress themselves and others in their
group. “Every hurt or mistreatment, if not discharged or healed, will create a
'distress' pattern. A distress pattern is some form of rigid, destructive, or
ineffective feelings and behavior, in the recipient of the mistreatment" (Reza.
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1993, p. 37). This oppression, turned against self, results in self-doubt, isolation,
fear, feelings of powerlessness, acts of self-destruction, and despair.
Bandura (1986) labels the same phenomena "reciprocal determinism."
The way people act and live is shaped by the circumstances they find
themselves in. The implication is that the environment shapes the individual's
thoughts, feelings, and actions. Conversely, the individual shapes the
environment. Both the social structure and the internalization and interpretation
of that social structure shape the nature of a group. A long-standing relationship
of dominance and subordination shapes the nature of both groups. The behavior
of the subordinate group constitutes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
The inequalities that began in slavery and were battled against during civil
rights, continue today in a different form. Both those who are subordinate and
those who are dominant internalize this inequality. The efforts for advancement
by many African Americans are negated by this perceived state of permanent
inequality. These inequalities are seen in several aspects of African American’s
lives. In the area of employment the unemployment rate of African Americans
sixteen years and older is double that of Whites (U. S. Bureau of Census, 2000).
Even when Blacks are employed, they continually earn less than their White
counterparts. African Americans with four years of college education earned
$30,048 per year, more than $6,000 less than Whites. African American males
with a four-year college education earned $32,145 per year; while Whites with
one to three years of college earned $31,336 per year, and those with four years
of college earned $41,661 per year (Bennett, 1992). A comparison of earnings
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across the board between Blacks and Whites showed these continual
inequalities. A greater percentage of African Americans lived in poverty than any
other ethnic group in the United States (U. S. Bureau of Census, 2000). The
categories compared include the total population living below the poverty level,
those under 18 years, those between 18 and 64, and those 65 and over. In all of
these categories the data shows that a greater percentage of Blacks per capita
live in poverty.
The separation of the races continues but now under different
circumstances. After the civil rights movement and the integration of schools,
many Blacks and Whites continued to attend separate schools. In Mississippi
many private schools for Whites were developed hastily to prevent the integration
of schools (Dittmer, 1995). Blacks and Whites continued to live in separate
communities, which also continued to maintain divided schools. In the thirty-six
years since the SNCC Freedom School the separation of communities has
increased. In 1999 more than 50% of Blacks lived in the inner city and more than
50% of Whites live in the suburbs (U. S. Bureau of Census, 2000). Hale (1994),
Kozol (1992,1995), and Parker (1997) cited the continued differential spending
on Black schools within the inner cities.
On October 29, 2000 Tom Brokaw (NBC) explored the separate school
systems in Milwaukee with a specific emphasis on voucher schools. The voucher
system that was developed to provide more school choice and improve
integration in the Milwaukee area resulted in increased funding in the suburban
schools and funding cuts for the inner city schools. More than 80% of the low-
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income children in the area continue to attend the inner city schools where many
of the essential services must be cut because of the funding problems.
These inequities and others have affected all African Americans to some
extent but the effect on those in the low-income areas of the inner city and rural
areas are greater. The positive social changes experienced by many African
Americans have left many in low-income communities more isolated and
segregated than ever before. This is the target population of the CDF/BCCC
Freedom School.
The changes that occurred over the thirty years included a loss of hope or
faith that things could really change (Parker, 1997). The loss of hope had
spawned violence and other negative behaviors in the community. The church
that had commanded respect in the past was the sight of gang violence on at
least one occasion in Boston. This hopelessness and the resulting behaviors are
the main problem the Freedom Schools today are facing. In 1964 many of the
students who worked with the Freedom Schools were challenged to relate with
the people in the community because they had a different ethnic background.
Parker noted that in 1994 when Boston hosted a Freedom School, many of the
college students again faced a problem as they tried to relate to the community
despite being Black. Parker labels one of the problems facing today's Freedom
Schools an “imbalance of class.” The inner city youth of Boston as well as many
other cities no longer have the camaraderie with people from other social strata,
even though they are of the same ethnic background. The camaraderie of the
past was based on the perceived shared outcome of all Blacks before and during
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in the social class is consistent with the statements of Bennett (1992) and West
(1993). The camaraderie of the past was the basis of hope and the belief that
things could get better during the civil rights era (Sitkoff, 1992). Parker noted
A generation of poor Black adults and children will almost certainly reach
the end of the century in an economically, politically, and spiritually inferior
position to their ancestors who entered the century in the shadows of
slavery. Unable to see a more rational future through the eyes of faith,
they lack the hope that sustained their forbears [sic]. Lacking hope, their
experience was called "social death." But unlike the social death of
slavery, this social death is fundamentally spiritual - rooted in the
destruction of faith and hope. It is, in the end, this profound spiritual nature
of the current crisis gives it its unique historical character, (p. 7)
Thus the concept of hope is a very important aspect of the social climate
today. The generations of hopelessness and the lack of change are taking its toll
on the youth in the inner city and the poverty ridden rural areas. West (1997)
discussed the matter of hope with many of his contemporaries. In a discussion
between West and Harry Belafonte, Belafonte noted
I think we are in the greatest jeopardy we have ever been in. I really
believe that. I am really quite troubled at what I see. Although we have
been in dark periods before —certainly no period in the existence of black
people could possibly have been more dark and more wretched and more
hopeless than the slave period down in the holds of ships, stacked there,
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brought to this strange place and so brutaiiy treated for so many centuries;
certainly there was no sense of hope, that God had really forsaken us, if in
fact there was a God. (West, 1997, p. 18)
As the exchange continued, the sustaining power of hope was compared during
different periods with what was seen in today's society. Belafonte saw only one
period, slavery, where hope was lacking more than it is today. Hope was a
sustaining factor during the civil rights movement; it allowed people who were
disenfranchised to stand against seemingly insurmountable odds. West
concluded by stating, "after all this progress owing to blood, sweat,, and tears,
there seems to be less hope in black America than there was in the late fifties
and early sixties" (West, 1997, p. 21).
Bill Bradley contrasted hope and optimism in his discussion with West. He
noted that "hope is a much deeper than optimism" (West, 1997, p. 45). Optimism
gets us from day to day and is predicated on the belief that things will be better
tomorrow. Hope is a sustaining force that goes to the core of humanity and keeps
a person going even in the darkest hours. This is the sustaining force behind
most of the existence of Blacks in America. Hope often continues when there is
no change in the circumstances and causes a person to act on the assumption
that they are doing the right thing. West also defined optimism and hope. He
found that optimism must look at the circumstances and evidence around the
situation in order to know things will get better, and hope is present while people
actively struggle against the odds and the lack of evidence that change will
come.
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The importance of hope is seen in Erikson’s (1982) stages of psychosociai
development. Erikson’s theory is unique because it looks at the impact of society,
history and culture on the development of personality. Like other theorists,
Erikson related the eight stages of psychosocial development to specific ages but
he noted that each individual continually returns to prior stages of development
when there is not a resolution to prior crisis. The crises are trust versus mistrust,
autonomy versus shame and doubt, initiative versus guilt, industry versus
inferiority, identity versus role confusion, generativity versus stagnation and ego
integrity versus despair. Hope is the foundational stage in the resolution of the
first conflict in the life cycle. If hope is not adequately developed it is a problem
throughout life and hampers the successful resolution of the subsequent stages
in life. The resolution of subsequent stages lead to the development of willpower,
purpose, competence, fidelity, love, care, and wisdom.
The loss of hope among many inner city and rural youth who live in
poverty has led to behaviors that are unproductive and destructive. The youth in
East St. Louis exhibited that loss of hope, as they stated that Martin Luther King,
Jr. and the civil rights movement had done nothing for them (Kozol, 1992). Life
for most of these young people has not changed much for the positive. The
Freedom School program seeks to restore that hope.
Many of the factors that led to the 1964 and 1992 Freedom Schools are
the same. Again echoing Victoria Adams, despite changes brought about by the
civil rights movement, many things had not changed. The differential spending
that was solidified and expanded with the Plessy vs. Ferguson ruling has
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continued in one form or another since that time. Today the differential spending
based on property tax within the community where a school is located affects the
physical facility and its upkeep, access to technology, basic supplies, and even
the quality and longevity of the teachers. Kozol (1992) found that many of the
teachers in the East St. Louis schools were inadequate and underpaid. The
differential funding for schools also translated into differential pay for teachers
and a difference in their commitment that was apparent in their behavior. Some
of the examples found by Kozol were of teachers sleeping in class and polishing
their fingernails. Another factor not as evident, the belief that African American
students have a lower ability level, has permeated the history of the educational
system. Kozol also found that many low-income communities tax themselves at a
higher rate, hoping to get adequate funds for schools, but this has not made any
difference.
Table 2 summarizes the information provided in the exploration of this
question on the social, political, and educational changes that have occurred
since African Americans came to this country. Certain terms and patterns were
apparent as the social, political, and educational perspectives of the Freedom
Schools were viewed. Many of the problems that were apparent when the 1964
Freedom School was developed continued when the 1992 program was
developed. The manifestation of the problem varied somewhat and the
community reaction varied greatly, but the underlying causes were still salient.
Five categories were important and present when each of the Freedom Schools
was developed. These categories were the extent to which African Americans
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were able to assimilate into the mainstream culture, the extent to which the group
was afforded the same rights given to other immigrants, the family structure, the
economic status or development of the community, and the educational equity
and opportunities provided African Americans. These same impediments were
present when the 1847 Freedom School program was developed. Each of these
categories found in Table 2 is further defined below.
The term “assimilation” has several meanings. The usual meaning refers
to the extent to which a person or group can shed those characteristics that
distinguish them as different from other groups. Assimilation as it is used in the
context of this table indicates the extent to which African Americans are included
and integrated into the social structure of the nation, as opposed to the extent to
which they have given up their traditions, values, norms, and other
characteristics that are peculiarly part of their culture. The assimilation of people
of color in regards to the loss of distinctive characteristics is not as easily
accomplished as it is for most persons of European descent, so the alternative
means of assimilation is to respect the diversity of culture.
The category of human equality includes several aspects of daily living for
African-Americas with particular emphasis on humane treatment, political rights,
and legal rights. This category looks at the treatment of African Americans as a
whole, whether it is humane or not. Each era provided a different type of
treatment of Blacks. It all leads back to the belief that Blacks were inherently
inferior to Whites. The political rights afforded persons in this group refer to the
right to vote and the constitutional rights of the group. The legal rights and
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standing of persons during each era refers to the protection provided by the local
law enforcement.
The family life category looks at the structure and strength of the family
unit. The pressures and problems confronting the African American family differ
in each era. During slavery through the civil rights era the problems had apparent
external sources. After the civil rights movement the external problems were not
as apparent, but they were still present. Today’s Black family has additional
internal problems such as single parents and teen parents that are hindering the
development of the community. This problem has affected both Blacks and
Whites but there are an inordinate number of single parents and teen parents in
the Black community. This area also looks at the interaction of the family and
individual within the community.
The economic status of African Americans looks at the average earnings
of the group. Statistical information was not available by ethnic categories until
1967, so information prior to that year was inferred from the literature. The
acquisition of better education has helped in the economic development of the
Black family to some extent, but most of the data continues to show African
Americans with a college education lagging behind their counterparts in the
White population. Bennett (1991) compared the earnings of Blacks with that of
Whites and found that many Black college graduates earn approximately the
same as non-college graduates who are White. This is especially true of males.
The educational category looks at the availability and equality of education
provided to African Americans as well as the successful participation of persons
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in this group in the educational system. The category also looks at the funding of
education. The research indicates that the funding of education for African
Americans is consistently lower when the community is predominantly African
American. One of the reasons for this discrepancy lies in the economic status of
many communities, since many of the communities that are predominantly
African American are lower-income areas. Wilson and Fern's (1989) talk about
the importance of education to African Americans. It is the foundation for all of
the other inequalities. They noted:
Formal education has been of vital importance to the status and
aspirations of southern blacks. Denied to all but a few before the Civil
War, it later became a barometer of discrimination, subject of successful
court action and political protest. To individual black people throughout
America it has been a main institutional means to gain personal respect,
economic security and racial progress .... Recent years have seen a new
generation of highly critical scholarship that has placed the South in the
context of the national political economy as it has probed reform
movements, the southern class structure, and the role of schooling in
“social control” by powerful interests, some of which have operated
globally. (Wilson & Ferris, 1989, p. 151)
The education that is so important to Blacks is one of the primary means used to
control their full inclusion in the American social structure. Wilson and Ferris
noted that after the Civil War, Blacks in some states paid a special tax for
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education while the same and better education was available to others free of
charge.
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Table #2 Social Change
Slavery ______Emancipation ______Civil Rights ______Post Civil Rights By law and By practice, Segregation by law Assimilation of Assimilation practice excluded despite laws, and practice middle class and from normal continued including Jim Crow isolation of poor in aspects of exclusion from all and Black Codes the inner city and American life. aspects of society primarily in the rural areas. with the exception South. of the Reconstruction period. Viewed as chattel Continued to lack Jim Crow laws and Continued Human Equality or property. No most of the rights Black codes differential rights to control given to others continued unequal treatment by the over their own such as property treatment. Lacked legal system. For person. Not ownership. legal protection example: cocaine allowed to enter Differential from physical convictions vs. into any treatment by the abuse and death. rock cocaine contractual legal system. convictions. agreement No legal rights to Immediate raise in Strong family and Breakdown in Family Life marry because marriages and community family structure considered a families were structure mainstay exhibited by growth contract. Children formed. of the time. in single parenting sold away from and teen parenting. parents. No rights to Sharecropping and Census records Growth in Economic Status personal income. working for less separated by economic status of No pay for labor. compensation than ethnic groups many Blacks. during slavery. beginning in 1967. Growth in middle- Prison labor Income for Blacks class. The percent system. Freedman has continually of poor has stayed Bank, all money fallen short of constant with loss with no Whites. number of 1960s recourse. but income decreased. The percentage of persons living in poverty has stayed the same but the number of persons without any income has grown. Education Limited education. Continuation of Funding of Education prohibited and any School system for separation of educational form of learning Blacks went up to educational facilities based on was subject to the eighth grade. facilities, inequality the property tax of physical harm, Quality of schools in the funding of community. death or sale of materials and education, Brown Continual unequal slave. facilities poor. vs. Board of funding in schools Education limited Education (1954) in low income to times when ignored for ten areas. children not years. needed in field. Plessy v Ferguson solidly established unequal funding of Black educational facilities.
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Wilson and Ferris (1989) noted another aspect of the Black culture: “In
‘Freedom’ as in slavery black people depended on cultural support systems
provided by community and kin to survive degradation and oppression. In the
rural south black families were the essential units embedded within the extended,
intergenerational network of kin and friends that embraced the secular and
religious institutional, churches, mutual aid associations, and schools were all
peopled by parents, grandparents, aunts, cousins and fictive kinfolk” (p. 137).
Each Freedom School movement reflected this ultimate reliance on the
community to support change. The current Freedom School is seeking to
rekindle that tradition.
Question #2
What are the underlying assumptions or philosophies of the Freedom School program?
The literature review on the Freedom School programs and the interviews
with the past and present participants in the program provided insight into the
second research question: What are the underlying assumptions or philosophies
of the Freedom School program?
The underlying assumptions and philosophies of the Freedom School are
part of an all-encompassing movement to address the problems that confront the
African American community. Much like the civil rights movement of the 1960s,
BCCC developed programs to address several different maladies of the African
American community. The problems that faced the African American community
in the 1960s and before were very different in nature from those today. Those
problems addressed by the civil rights movement were the product of overt
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racism, segregation, and the accompanying poverty that grew out of a system of
inequalities. Most of the problems of the 1960s had a traceable origin that was
outside of the control of the Black community. The problems faced by the civil
rights movement included the schools, hospitals, public facilities, and
transportation as well as all other facets of life that were mandated separated by
the Jim Crow laws of the time. This separation resulted in a system of unequal
and inadequate services for African Americans.
The problems addressed by BCCC are not as obvious. The subtle nature
of today’s problems was mentioned by most of the subjects interviewed by this
researcher. Hale (1994) and Kozol (1992) labeled today’s enemy of the Black
community “institutionalized racism,” noting that the subtlety of today is the
product of a long history of inequality that is so ingrained in the social structure of
this country that it is no longer apparent.
BCCC explained that the problems faced by African Americans are as old
as this nation. Further
This legacy of family degradation and educational deficiency, reinforced
by disenfranchisement, job discrimination, and finely spun theories of
scientific racism became a normal part of the American landscape far
down into the twentieth century. The grimness of the picture was relieved
only by self-help on the one hand and philanthropic assistance on the
other. Neither was adequate to move Blacks to a position where they even
approached equality of opportunity in education, in the workplace or in the
administration of justice. (BCCC, 1993, p. X)
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The organizing members of BCCC felt that the longevity of the problems have
placed the survival of the Black family in jeopardy. In addition to placing the Black
family into a state of crisis, the subtlety and longevity of the problem have also
masked the origins of today’s problems. Although the manifestations of the
problems in the African American community are different, they are still a
consequence of racial inequality.
Several assumptions were gleaned from the literature of BCCC (1993;
1995). The primary assumption of BCCC was that all families suffer because of
poverty, but the effect of poverty was more drastic upon the African American
community than other communities. A second assumption was that children are
the greatest victims of the problems related to poverty; again, these problems are
more prevalent in the African American community. The third assumption was
that the result of the problems in the African American community was the loss of
viable productive people in this nation. A fourth assumption was that another
result of poverty and the loss of productivity was the growth of self-destructive
behavior within the African American community. A fifth assumption was that
there was a division in the community between the middle-class and poor, and
the division has further compounded the problem by leaving those living in
poverty without allies and role models. Those living in poverty are isolated and
their needs are often invisible.
These assumptions and findings have shaped the philosophies that direct
and drive BCCC. One philosophy is that real change can, must, and will come
from within the Black community. This thought does not release the nation as a
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whole from the responsibility to work for change; instead, it recognizes that the
greatest changes that have occurred in the past came as a result of the self-help
efforts of the unified community. The reconnection of the community is imperative
to the community’s further improvement. Another philosophy is that the needs of
the children must take primacy in this fight for change in order to break the cycle
of despair. In breaking this cycle, the educational system is a starting point
.because it is still the institution that transmits culture and shapes the
opportunities for the country as a whole and specifically for our youth.
This last point is the impetus behind the development of the Freedom
School programs, past and present. Victoria Adams again provides insight into
the redevelopment of the Freedom School program. She stated, “It never should
have been left alone or discontinued, because the young people who came out of
those schools [sponsored by SNCC] are some of the leading young people now
in the communities from whence they have come and the communities where
they are. The average one [student] will tell you that it was in the Freedom
School that they came to the realization that they could have aspirations and that
they could have visions.” The SNCC Freedom School program celebrated a
thirty-fifth reunion in 1999 with the return of the students and teachers to
Mississippi. Mrs. Adams noted that “[the former students] introduced themselves
by saying who they are and what they are doing today, wherever in the world
they are. They are lawyers, educators, and you name it. That was a marvelous
affirmation.” The Freedom School made a difference and changed the direction
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of the lives of those who attended in 1964, both the children and the adults who
participated in the program.
Informal discussions were held with those who were children in the
program and one adult who was a student in the SNCC program and again their
leadership abilities were apparent. Mrs. Unita Blackwell spoke at the graduation
ceremonies of the 1999 BCCC internship training. Mrs. Blackwell served as the
mayor of the town where she had previously worked as a sharecropper and
where she was kicked off the farm where she worked because of her
involvement with SNCC. After the civil rights movement she served multiple
terms as mayor of Mayersville, Mississippi. Later, she served as a guest lecturer
at Harvard for one year. She returned home and was again elected to the
position of mayor; currently, she is serving another multiple term. In addition to
her participation in the SNCC program, Mrs. Blackwell was also a student in the
Freedom School in 1964.
Freedom Schools provided participants access to their own history, which
was not available in the regular educational system. The same sentiments noted
by Woodson in 1933 were echoed by the developers of the SNCC Freedom
School and reechoed today by CDF/BCCC Freedom School organizers. The
absence of or limited access to education related to African American history in
K-12 schools has continued the problem that Woodson surmised: African
American children are taught to value other cultures but not their own.
The organizers of the current Freedom Schools have reviewed those
things that occurred in the earlier program and have developed a program to
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combat the problems that occurred in the past. The factors that led to the demise
of the SNCC Freedom School were identified, and plans were developed to
prevent the same problems in today’s programs. The lack of planning for the
long-range continuation of the program was one of the things addressed by
CDF/BCCC. The institutionalization of the program is a continual topic in the
training for the current Freedom School. Barbara Kelley-Duncan, the Vice
President of Leadership Development and BCCC, was asked what CDF/BCCC
meant by institutionalization, since the term was repeatedly used but nothing was
specifically spelled out. Mrs. Kelley-Duncan responded:
It means having the Freedom Schools become an integral part of the local
community, having everybody involved in the Freedom Schools, wanting
Freedom Schools, being invested in seeing that Freedom Schools
happen. In some cases, such as Philadelphia, where they became
affiliated with the school district [sic]. So, that institutionalizes the Freedom
School, when a reputable and standing organization takes them over.
Same as in Kansas City, where Mount Pleasant would operate a Freedom
School whether they got external funding or not. It is now an integral part
of their program and they involve community leaders from all across [the
city]. The whole community would be up in arms if they didn't have
Freedom Schools. So that's what it means to institutionalize it. How do we
get it recognized as a part of the services in a community and get the
support of people so that it remains a viable program in the community.
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Each site is encouraged to invite peopie from the community to ieam
about the Freedom School and take part as presenters. Those invited should not
be exclusively from the African American community, although the primary role
models should come from within the community. Persons in positions that can
make the program known throughout the community are encouraged to become
involved in the program, including the mayor, superintendent of schools, news
media, and other persons in leadership positions. Mrs. Kelley-Duncan relayed
the story of one of the sites in North Carolina. 'This year again in North Carolina
there was a local organization that had a Freedom School last year and
somehow they got the school superintendent to visit their site a lot. This year the
school district, because the superintendent was so impressed with the Freedom
School, is operating three sites. That is the kind of thing that happens when you
get the movers and shakers in the program." This site like the one in
Philadelphia is supported by the local school district.
The second problem that led to the end of the 1964 program was the
funding mechanism used by SNCC. The SNCC Freedom School workers were
required to pay their own expenses and were not financially compensated for the
work they did. Contrarily the CDF/BCCC Freedom Schools have set a minimum
standard for paying the staff of the program. Many of the programs have decided
to increase the pay in the last few years to keep up with the cost of living, but the
minimum pay for the interns is $2000 for the summer. The pay levels were also
set for other staff.
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The make-up of the interns or college students that work in the Freedom
Schools is another area of change in the current program. Most of the SNCC
teachers came from communities outside of the areas where they worked. In
addition the majority of the college students were White while today the majority
of the interns are Black. CDF/BCCC currently use the program for the
development of community leaders, it is one of the major reasons for using
young people indigenous to the community. Another reason for using primarily
African American students is to redevelop mentors and role models in the
community. The program does not exclude persons other than Blacks from the
program, but they try to find persons that the students in the program can identify
with. There is still another reason for the use of primarily Black interns. The
college completion rate of Black students continues to lag behind Whites, and the
Freedom School program is used to promote educational completion of the
interns. The final reason for using interns from within the community is to
eliminate the need to acclimate the students to the community.
Many of the strongest components of the program were maintained. The
CDF/BCCC program, like the SNCC program, developed sites in several different
communities; each site developed and adjusted the program to meet the needs
of their specific community. The SNCC programs had Black history and the
philosophy of the movement as the foundational components of their program.
CDF/BCCC has maintained the Black history component of their program and
has added basic literacy and leadership to their program. Both programs served
the adults in the community but in different ways. The SNCC program was faced
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with parents who had the same or worse educational deficits than the children
the program was developed to serve; thus, their program included adults as
students. The CDF/BCCC program does not have the parents as students in the
same manner as the 1964 program. There are parent workshops but their focus
is on parenting skills, educational support, and any other subject that the parents
consider important. The program holds to the idea that when everyone is
involved in education success is the byproduct. Another component of both
programs was the involvement of churches and other organizations in the Black
Community.
The strategy used to develop the CDF/BCCC Freedom School indicates
that the developers shared the thoughts of Victoria Adams regarding the need to
continue the program. The components and the work of the 1964 Freedom
School were valuable and worth maintaining. One of the other main aspects of
the Freedom School program is the reclaiming of the tradition of self-help and
community unity. These beliefs led to the resurgence of the Freedom School.
Question #3
What is the leadership model used by the current Freedom School
program?
The CDF/BCCC Freedom School program uses what they call an
intergenerational model of leadership. The target populations of the program
symbolize this model. The program targets several generations at one time by
using each group to mentor another. The young children who participate in the
Freedom School program are the most apparent target population and the
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coiiege students mentor them. The college students are a second target
population; the sponsoring agency representative, the site coordinator, project
coordinator, and community participants mentor this group. The next target
population of the Freedom School program is the parent group. The sponsoring
agency representative, project coordinator, site coordinator, and the college
students provide mentorship for this group. The ultimate goal of the program is
the development of a web of mentoring that includes all of those involved in any
way with the program, from the youngest to the oldest. The intergenerational
model holds to the belief that all persons involved can learn and grow from their
involvement with others in the program.
The concept of leadership is taught at all levels in the program. It is not
taught from a positional perspective but from a perspective that everyone has a
responsibility in society. Everyone has a responsibility for making a positive
change in their individual lives, homes, communities, country, and the world. This
theme is transmitted to everyone, even the most peripheral persons, who come
into contact with the program. Many of those interviewed provided examples of
persons who were not directly involved with the program, or who were resistant
to participating in the program, yet changed during the program. Deborah Boyd
and Seteria Austin provided examples of parents, other family members, and
staff of the church who were initially resistant participating in activities. These
sentiments were echoed by all of the others interviewed in informal
conversations, during training, and in the observations of the two San Diego
programs. Dwala Ferrell and Mike Watts noted that their program had teenagers
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who were assigned to work for the Petersburg Freedom School as a term of their
probation. They initially came to the program grumbling and resistant. The
program staff soon noticed that these young people who were assigned to work
in OQ'/ qi*o! oro2c fho iifKoro +Ho nrAnrom \»/90»o n f i n r l lil O C VC iai a ic a o Oi uiO iCtV/liujf vvn vio u lu p tv^ia iM vVCio lu il QivtCijfd ovC illC u ix/ m iu
a way to the rooms where the group activities were run. They eventually asked
permission to work more closely with the program and participate in the program.
The Bayview site in San Diego has used high school students as junior
interns since the program began in 1997. Most of the participation was voluntary
until 1999, when the students had to go through an interview process and were
hired for a small stipend. The interview process was instituted because too many
students were volunteering, and there were not enough jobs for all of them to do.
During the summer 2000 program many of the usual high school students
returned and an additional ten students from Hire-A-Youth were involved in the
program. The junior intern component of the program was developed to get
students involved in the program who usually said they were too old for the
Freedom School. This group of youth usually is at home alone or in the
community during the summer and is often among the young people who get in
trouble during the summer.
Rasuli Lewis explained the use as interns of young people who are usually
seen as the problems in their community. Most of the Freedom School programs
use college-aged youth as interns without the requirement that they are
participating in college. The intern must show that they are able to provide a
good example for the younger children in the program. As a consequence of the
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program many of these young people begin attending coiiege. One of these
young men from one of the Midwest sites exemplified the way the Freedom
School program changes the participants into more responsible persons. A
component of every training session is a period in which all persons involved in
the training make a unity circle before closing. While in the unity circle everyone
has the opportunity to share something with the group. While in the unity circle at
the end of February 1998 training session, the project director from Minnesota
shared why she was committed to the program. While in the airport waiting to
catch her flight for training, she had seen one other Black person, a young man,
in the airport. The young man was walking with two other men. As the trio
passed, she realized the young man was handcuffed. She went over and asked
permission to talk to the young man, she found that he was being extradited to
Texas to stand trial for murder. This was the reason she was so committed to the
program. She wanted to prevent scenes like the one she observed in the airport.
As the others in the circle shared, one of the young men in the group
began to cry and no one could console him. He cried for at least one hour. The
next meeting was held in April and the same young man was in the group. While
in the unity circle this time, the young man shared that his brother was killed the
week before the last training. He knew the person who killed his brother and
spent two days looking for his brother’s murderer. He had a gun and planned to
kill him. He stated that he suddenly stopped and said, “What am I doing? I need
to be an example for the children.” This explained the behavior at the other
meeting and provided one of the greatest examples of the change the program
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generates in the participants. Each person in the program is committed to
leadership that will make a positive change in his or her community. That change
must begin with the individual.
Wilson and Ferris (1989) made reference to the intergenerational model in
the African American community both during slavery and afterwards, as a way of
training each successive generation. The skills, traditions, and knowledge of one
generation were passed to the next orally and by modeling or mentoring the next
generation. “Even in slavery, blacks created customs, ceremonies, and rituals
that reinforced their community values and institutional ties” (Wilson & Ferris,
1989, p. 137).
This model of leadership is replicated throughout history and in the
Freedom Schools. The 1847 Freedom School program shows the
intergenerational model as well as the interpersonal model of leadership in the
Black community. Meachum, the founder of the 1847 Freedom School, worked
within the church, one of the only independent Black organizations even during
that time, to bring about change among those he came into contact with. The
same model of leadership was developed in the SNCC movement and the
Freedom School program in 1964. It is also used in the Freedom School program
and the other programs run by CDF/BCCC. In each case all aspects of the
community were engaged in an effort to bring about change.
The leadership for the 1847 program came from John Berry Meachum.
The leadership of the 1964 Freedom School and SNCC program is traced back
to one person, Ella Baker. Miss Ella Baker is a name that is familiar to only those
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who have taken the time to study the civil rights movement very closely. Unlike
those who became well known in the midst of the movement, such as Martin
Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Ralph Abernathy, and Jesse Jackson, or those who
gained notoriety as a later consequence of their involvement, such as Marion
Barry, Andrew Young, John Lewis and Stokely Carmichael, Ella Baker did not
become well known.
Ella Baker spent more than forty years fighting for the civil rights of African
Americans, which was much longer than most of the other persons involved in
the movement. Her work in the civil rights movement began before most people
in the nation were aware of any movement in 1929 and continued until 1974. In
1979, on her seventy-fifth birthday, Miss Ella Baker was honored at the Carnegie
Endowment for Peace program in New York.
Ella Baker traveled alone in the south to places that most Blacks would
avoid. While traveling for the NAACP, the Urban League, SCLC and other
organizations, she always worked very closely with the common people in the
communities. Her message to these organizations, especially the NAACP and
SCLC, was that more of the leadership responsibility should come from the
people in the communities. This philosophy brought Baker into conflict with most
of the organizations with which she was involved. Grant (1998) stated,
As the movement evolved, Baker’s influence as a mentor was evident. Her
professed aversion to the teaching profession did not prevent her from
becoming a teacher - not in a formal sense, but there was no way she
could avoid this calling since she was intent on developing leaders from
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among the local populace wherever she might find herself. Throughout her
career she had seen that there were local people who were unhappy with
their lot but did not know how to make changes. They had to be taught.
(Grant, 1998, p. 143)
Baker’s activities in the community included the organizing of the
grassroots group that became the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party
(MFDP). This group ran their own candidates in a mock election in 1963 when
Blacks in Mississippi were barred from voting. They later worked to unseat the
regular delegates to the Democratic Convention.
The work of Ella Baker gained her the name of Fundi, a Swahili word for a
person who passes skills from one generation to another (Dallard, 1990; Grant,
1998). A documentary was made of Baker’s life using this term. The film is called
Fundi: The Story of Ella Baker. Ella Baker has lent her name to many
organizations including the “Ella Baker Center for Human Rights” in San
Francisco and the student leadership network that is part of the CDF/BCCC
Freedom School. Her influence is present in the lives of many of the people she
worked with and mentored in the past, as well as those who have taken the time
to study about her life.
Ella Baker was also one of the motivating forces for the development of
the CDF/BCCC Freedom School program although she died in 1986. The other
driving force behind the reorganization of the Freedom School is Marian Wright
Edelman. Edelman (1999) identifies Baker as one of her primary mentors and
influences in the work that she does today. Edelman met Baker as a senior at
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Spelman College while she was working for SCLC. Edelman noted that Ella
Baker pushed for structure and rules in the NAACP, SCLC and SNCC. She
further notes,
It was Ella Baker who sat down with Bayard Rustin and Stanley Levinson
to discuss how to create a continuing movement out of the Montgomery
bus boycott that led to SCLC’s formation. It was Baker who tried to put
SCLC in operating order so that Dr. King was not just a leader who
reacted to and jumped from one event to the other, and who worked to
give SCLC the capacity to plan and implement and not just react to
change. It was Ella Baker who convinced Dr. King to bring me and about
two hundred other Black college students from around the South who had
been arrested for engaging in sit-in protests to open up lunch counters to
her alma mater Shaw University. It was Ella Baker who encouraged
students to form our own organization rather than simply becoming the
young arm of SCLC. It was Ella Baker who warned against SCLC
becoming “a cult of personality” for Dr. King rather than an organized
means of empowering others. (Edelman, 1999, p. 129)
Baker was resented for her forcefulness that was compared to mothering that
most of the young men who were in leadership positions were trying to escape.
Marian Wright Edelman was also taught at a young age to take
responsibility for the state of her community. Like most children Edelman was
raised with chores that she was responsible for at home, but she was also raised
with the responsibility of doing something for her community (Edelman, 1999;
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Siegei, 1995). Her parents gave each of the children in her family a responsibility
in the community. “Study and community work. They were the steady drumbeats,
setting Marian’s life on its path in her early years. Service, she would learn, was
not something you did in your spare time; ‘it was the very purpose of life’” (Siegel,
1995, p. 22). Mrs. Edelman's father was the pastor of a church in Bennettsville;
her commitment to community and service came from that background. The
family fed those who were less fortunate than they were, opened a home for the
poor, and were involved with education and other social entities that impacted
the Black community. Mrs. Edelman's leadership development was based on a
spiritual model that saw leadership as a servant’s position.
During the civil rights movement and in the aftermath while the Head Start
program was developing, Edelman worked hard to call attention to the plight of
the poor. She influenced Attorney General Robert Kennedy to come to
Mississippi and see the state of the people for himself. Two senators, John 0.
Eastland and John Stennis from Mississippi, fought against providing the funding
for Head Start and other poverty programs to those it was intended for in the
state. They refused to apply for the Head Start funds and tried to block the
passage of the anti-poverty bill. “A greater fear than racial integration was the
possibility that African Americans would get an education, and who knew where
that might lead [sic]” (Siegel, 1995, p. 68). This battle and others while in
Mississippi catapulted Mrs. Edelman into the public light where she developed
and became the primary voice for CDF.
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One of Mrs. Ea’eiman’s greatest concerns after the civil rights movement
was the division that occurred in the African American community. The unified
work of the Black community in prior situations was the only resource for change
in the past, and it was now missing. Prior to the development of BCCC, Edelman
was calling for the renewal of that unity by encouraging those who had achieved
middle-class status to remember those who had not. She declared, “If you and I
don’t build a bridge back to it (the poor communities of Blacks in America), and
throw out some strong lifelines to our children and youth and families whom
poverty and unemployment and hopelessness are engulfing, they’re going to
drown, pull many of us down with them, and undermine the black future that our
forebears have dreamed of and struggled and died for centuries” (Edelman,
1988, p. 65 - 66). Edelman and most Blacks prior to the civil rights movement
saw the destinies of all African American tied closely together. Several Black
leaders who shared that belief came together to develop BCCC in 1990.
The development of BCCC and the other organizations under this
umbrella, as well as her work with CDF, has moved Edelman's work to the
forefront. Now, like Ella Baker in 1964 and during most of the civil rights
movement, Marian Wright Edelman remains a strong force in the background of
these programs as well as the current Freedom School. She did not consent to
an interview because she wanted those who had the primary responsibility and
were directly involved in the program to take the lead in providing information.
Thus the leadership model of the Freedom School program follows a
pattern that has brought Blacks through generations of hardships. It is a model
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that empowers those who have no power. This leadership model is based on
mentoring, modeling, and relationship building. This leadership model also has
service to others as a major component. There is no individual position of
leadership, and authority that speaks for the group and the leadership position
changes according to the need. This was very apparent with the program in
1964. Each individual's strength was used to the best interest of the whole group.
Question #4
How does the Freedom School model of leadership compare to transformational leadership?
In both the 1964 and 1992 Freedom School programs the group process
is a very important aspect of leadership. In the leadership literature, two
philosophies of leadership emphasize the group process: group-centered
leadership and transitional leadership. Leadership theories that emphasize the
group process differ from other theories of leadership in that they do not look for
one single leader with specific characteristics, abilities, traits, or other
distinguishing qualities that set the individual apart from the rest. Group-centered
leadership and transformational leadership both focus on the interaction and
relationship of the group.
Although both of these theories of leadership depend upon the group
process, they are very distinct from each other. Those distinctions are identified
in this section; then each of these theories of leadership is compared to the
leadership of the Freedom School programs to determine whether either or both
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models of leadership theories coincides with the leadership displayed in the
Freedom School movement.
The study of group leadership began in the 1940’s (Rost, 1993). The
interaction of several types of groups was studied to understand how they
function. These groups included the military, work groups, social groups, street
gangs and other groups. The common element in these groups was the process
of influence that occurred. Social scientists, organizational theorists, and
psychologists studied this influence relationship. Group leadership is defined as
the interaction between the leader and followers. A person in a group is a leader
because of his or her ability to influence the group toward a goal without coercion
or force. The group develops a shared goal in response to the situation in which
they find themselves. The leader is often lifted up from the ranks of the group
because of the ability to take initiative within the group. The fact that the leader is
lifted from the ranks of the group indicates that the leader does not have to have
the power or prestige that an office or position would give prior to becoming a
leader.
The diversity in the groups studied makes it clear that the goals of the
groups often differ greatly, but the characteristics of the leaders stay constant.
Within an organization, the group leader is usually the person who is able to
influence the group to achieve the goals of the organization most efficiently. The
military leader usually shows characteristics that cause others to trust and follow
him. These characteristics boost the individual to a higher position within the
organization. The leader on a sports team is the person who inspires the team to
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play their best and hopefully win the game. Although each of these groups’ goals
differs, everyone in the group shares them. What the leader does within the
group makes him or her the leader. The group can have either positive or
negative goals, but they are common goals.
Many of the characteristics of transformational leadership are similar to
those in the group approach to leadership. These similarities include the
importance of the group, the interaction, and the shared visions and goals. The
influence relationship in the group approach to leadership usually flows from the
leaders to the followers and often prompts the follower to desire to emulate the
leader. Burns (1979) defines leadership as transformational “when one or more
persons engage with others in such a way as the leaders and followers raise one
another to higher levels of motivation and morality” (p. 20). He finds that
transformational leadership often develops when a mutual need is identified and
the group forms to address that need. The behavior in a transformational
leadership relationship is always moral, considers the alternatives, and takes
responsibility for reaching the goal. In the group approach to leadership, the
leader is elevated, whereas, in the transformational approach to leadership
everyone is elevated as a consequence of the relationship.
Other theorists who are considered transformational include Foster
(1989), Greenleaf (1977), Rost (1991,1993), Weisbord (1992), and Weisbord
and Janoff (1995). They do not agree on all of the components of leadership, but
all see the give and take of the leadership relationship as part of the
transformational model. In each example, those involved in the leadership
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process come together, determine a goal, and interact to improve a situation.
The points of contention relate to whether the goal is moral and whether the goal
is reached. Bums states that transformational leadership is always moral, and
Foster adds a social critique element that requires leadership to have an ethical
component. Both Bums and Foster determine that all elements in
transformational leadership must be ethical, including the outcomes. In contrast
Rost states that an ethical process, not outcome, is necessary in transformational
leadership. Weisbord and Janoff emphasize the process and constructive
change but put no further value on the goal. Greenleaf also saw that the
leadership was responsible for moral and ethical behavior during the process.
The achievement of goals is another point where there is not total
agreement. Bums states the leadership process does not occur unless the goal
is achieved. Rost’s premise is that there was an intended real change that is
substantive and transforming, but the change occurring is not necessary for the
process to constitute leadership. Foster requires the achievement of the goal or
the effectiveness of purpose before the interaction is considered leadership.
Weisbord and Janoff look for the commitment of the participants to follow through
on the set goals. Greenleaf saw the process of leadership as continuous,
constantly seeking to reach higher heights.
The group approach to leadership and transformational leadership differ in
at least two ways: first, the leader and followers influence the process equally in
transformational leadership as opposed to the leader providing the primary
influence in the group approach; second, the goal is change in transformational
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leadership, while change is not necessary in the group approach. Another
component, most transformational leadership theorists agree is that leadership
must have a moral or ethical component it is not a stipulation in the group
approach. Both approaches to leadership require a noncoercive influence
relationship.
Placing the leadership component of the Freedom School next to both of
these theories, it is found that the transformational leadership theory is most
congruent with the practices and policies of the program. The grassroots
movement during the civil rights movement determined and accomplished a goal
of elevating everyone involved to a higher level of commitment and responsibility
to social change. The groups involved in the civil rights movement sought change
that was truly transformational. SNCC’s commitment to confront the most
grievous problems faced by Blacks, namely those in Mississippi, required them to
put their lives on the line to bring about change. The Freedom School aspect of
the movement met with resistance initially because the goal was not the
extensive and immediate change that was a feature of the voter’s rights and
other programs addressed by SNCC.
The decision making and goal setting process of SNCC was often a full
day process where everyone had input. The gravity of the situations faced by the
group required a full understanding and agreement on a common goal. Even
when the organization was perched on the edge of demise because of the
addition of the Northern students, SNCC was able to come to an agreement,
albeit two separate directions, but both part of the united group.
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The moral component of the movement was the motivating factor for all of
the activities. The civil rights workers in all of the groups were trying to change
what they viewed as an unjust and immoral system that disenfranchised a large
portion of the population in the South as well as people in parts of the entire
nation. There was a strong spiritual component to the movement that was
consistent with the tradition of the people involved in the fight.
These same characteristics are present in the work of CDF/BCCC. The
Freedom School and other programs under the umbrella of these organizations
are seeking to elevate everyone to a higher level of responsibility. The curricula
of today’s Freedom Schools reflect that; “I can make a difference.” The Freedom
School mission statement asserts:
Freedom Schools embrace and education vision for children that
promotes academic enrichment as well as social, cultural and historical
awareness. Freedom Schools support the mission of CDF and BCCC to
Leave No Child Behind and ensure that every child has a Healthy Start, a
Fair Start, a Safe Start, and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to
adulthood with the help of caring families and communities. (From the
Freedom School training manual. A copy is placed in the appendix.)
The goal of the Freedom School program is to institute real changes in the
schools and children so that they are involved and can influence those who come
into contact with the program. Again, looking at the curricula used, the program
tries to start with the individual, then the family, community, country, and world.
The program starts with the individual and works outwardly from there. The
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individuals targeted are at every ievei of the program: children, college students,
parents, community members, sponsoring agencies, as well as anyone else who
comes into contact with the program.
Summary
The goal of this research was to deveiop an understanding of the
Freedom School programs. This understanding was gained by viewing the SNCC
Freedom School program of 1964 in comparison with the CDF/BCCC program.
These programs are closely related in philosophy, structure, goals, and
leadership. As the social, political, and educational factors of the time were
analyzed, they were viewed as similar in many ways. Although changes have
occurred in many areas of our society, others have seen very few changes. This
lack of change, or even change for the worse, led to the development of the
current Freedom School program. One of the primary assumptions of the
Freedom School program developed by CDF/BCCC is that the program was one
of the most promising, yet overlooked, programs during the civil rights
movement. Now the goal is to redevelop the program and bring about the change
that was started in 1964. This change must begin in the community. The
leadership component of the Freedom School was also analyzed. The
connection to the 1964 Freedom School was again found with the CDF/BCCC
Freedom School program’s adoption of the philosophies of Ella Baker. Finally,
when the leadership component was compared to leadership theories, it fit the
transformational model of leadership.
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The study of the 1964 and 1992 Freedom Schools led to the discovery of
an earlier program in 1847. Again, this program sought to change the state of a
disenfranchised people, starting with their education. The three generations of
Freedom Schools, the methodology used, and the purpose shows that the beliefs
and practices for social change in the African American community are
consistent through the years. There is a continual striving for social change and
equality; education is a primary factor in this effort. The tradition that held the
community together and functioned during civil rights - self-help — is still the
method used today. Some of the efforts for self help are weakened by the
fragmentation of the community, so one of the goals is to reconnect the
community.
There is still unfinished business that started during the civil rights
movement and even before.
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Summary, Implications and Recommendations
“The fate of society depends on the education of youth.”
Aristotle
If my Central High School experience taught me one lesson, it is that we are not separate. The effort to separate ourselves whether by race, creed, color, religion, or status is as costly to the separator as to those who would be separated . . . The task that remains is to cope with our interdependence - to see ourselves reflected in every other human being and to respect and honor our differences.
Melba Pattillo Beals Warriors Don’t Cry (1994)
Learning about races and racial differences, learning one’s own racial identity, learning which race is preferred and which rejected - all these are assimilated by the child as part of the total pattern of ideas he acquires about himself and the society in which he lives.
Kenneth B. Clark How Children Leam About Race Prejudice and Your Child (1955)
Introduction
African Americans, like all other Americans, have sought a means to
educate their young since they came to this country; unlike the other immigrants,
obtaining an education for African Americans was not easy. During the early
years of this country the slave owners fought against educating their slaves,
using laws and practices that put those in jeopardy who were caught with a book.
Haskins (1998) found laws prohibiting the education of slaves in every Southern
state except Tennessee. Many Blacks risked their lives to leam to read and write
228
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during the time of slavery. Douglass (1962,1969) provides one example of the
willingness to risk the retribution of their masters and the law to gain an
education. Many other slaves, including George Moses Horton, Jupiter
Hammond, Phillis Wheatley, Richard Allen, and Absalom Jones gained an
education (Brawley, 1970). Most of the slaves who learned to read and write
were self-taught, although slave owners aided others. Many earlier Black writers
were the children of slaves such as David Walker and William Wells Brown.
When the doors to education opened, the overwhelming response by
Blacks resulted in an inadequate number of schools (Haskins, 1998; Meltzer,
1970; Walter, 1996). Ex-slaves, church, and social groups raised money to
purchase land, build schools, and pay teachers between 1865 and 1866. The
Freedmen Bureau built their first public school during this time. “By 1869, nearly
3,000 schools, serving over 150,000 pupils, reported to the bureau” (Haskins,
1998, p. 56).
By 1880, for the first time in southern history the states had the principle
responsibility for public education. Taxes were levied against landowners to pay
for schools, and resentment grew as a result (Haskins, 1998). During the latter
part of reconstruction there was a resurgence of resistance to the education of
Blacks. “In 1899 Mississippi superintendent of education A. A. Kincannon had
stated, ‘Our public school system is designed primarily for the welfare of the
white children’” (Walter, 1996, p. 61). The growing resentment and the belief that
schools were meant for White children continued to put stress on the education
of Blacks in the South. Those who chose to attend school and those who taught
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in the schools challenged the insurmountable odds against the education of
Blacks. In Mississippi by 1890, Black children made up 60% of the school
population and received only 19% of the state’s school funds. Even with this
disparity in spending on education, the resentment mounted against educating
Blacks. Teachers and students were threatened and beaten in an effort to keep
them from attending school (Meltzer, 1970).
Despite the obstacles, the education of young African Americans became
prevalent, although limited and unequal when compared to that of other
immigrants. During the latter part of the eighteenth century and the early part of
the nineteenth century, many Black children were only allowed to go to school
three months out of the year when they were not needed in the fields (Brown,
1996; Meltzer, 1970).
During the same time period most African American adults were illiterate.
Citizenship Schools for adults were developed to address their educational
needs. The emphasis in the Citizenship Schools was placed on equipping adults
to vote and understand their rights, so the U.S. Constitution, state laws, and voter
registration forms the primary curriculum. Some of these students learned to read
and understand the laws; those who didn’t leam to read memorized the laws
enough to register to vote. The first schools began on the islands off of South
Carolina and ran for three years, until 1959, before anyone noticed them and by
this time the schools were growing in popularity in 11 states in the Deep South.
Highlander Folk School was used for training teachers. Once the schools
were discovered, raids started at Highlander. Citizenship schools were then
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adopted by SCLC and drew more attention, in Liberty County, Georgia the
Blacks were taught to vote and do their banking. “When they found out that black
people were learning to write their names, they got very angry about it. One night
we had a whole group of white farmers out there against us” (Brown, 1996, p.
65). The schools were held in secret in the backrooms of stores and churches
after that. There were 897 Citizenship Schools between 1957 and 1970. In 1964
195 schools ran in several Southern states at one time.
During the civil rights movement, the battle to gain an equal education
continued. The obstacle at this time was segregation and other practices that
provided a poorer quality education for Blacks. Again individuals and groups of
African Americans challenged the system that kept them from receiving an equal
education. Young people and their families faced mobs and military troops that
sought to keep children out of the schools. The day the decision in the Brown v.
the Board of Education case was announced, the schools in Little Rock,
Arkansas were released early. Instead of celebrating, the children were told to go
straight home and to stay on the main streets in groups. Groups of angry Whites
were roaming the streets and trying to find someone to take that anger out on
(Beals, 1994). Melba Pattillo Beals was one of the children who later began
integration at Central High in Little Rock in 1957. Her home was fired upon prior
to beginning school. On the first day of school the children had to fight through
mobs of screaming people and were still not admitted by the governor and
National Guard troops who were at the doors. The children’s first year of school
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was oniy accomplished when the president intervened, and guards were
provided to accompany them to every class.
In Birmingham, Alabama, Fred Shuttlesworth was one of the leaders in the
civil rights movement and the integration of schools. On Christmas night in 1956
the family home was bombed because of Shuttlesworth’s work for integration. In
1957 he was beaten with chains and brace knuckles, and his wife was stabbed
when they tried to register their children in an all-White school (Payne, 1995;
Sitkoff, 1992). Shuttlesworth was undaunted by these and other attacks he
suffered during the early years of the movement. In 1961 when the freedom rides
began, one of the interstate buses carrying Blacks and Whites was attacked and
set on fire in Anniston, Alabama. When the passengers tried to exit the bus they
were beaten. The hospitals in the town refused to treat them, and the riders were
only able to get to safety when Shuttlesworth and a caravan of civil rights
workers came from Birmingham to get them (Payne, 1995; Sitkoff, 1992).
In Mississippi James Meredith began his attempts to integrate the
University of Mississippi in 1961. Governor Ross Barnett refused to let him in;
ultimately there was a showdown between the governor and President Kennedy.
The governor refused to adhere to the order to integrate the university, but
Meredith was finally admitted in 1962 with the aid of federal troops. When
Meredith entered the school he was met by mobs of rioters, and the National
Guard was called in. Two died and 375 were injured in the fighting that followed
(Sitkoff, 1992).
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. During the 1970s and 1980s busing became the predominant means to
improve education and integrate schools. African American youth spent hours on
buses seeking an education that was better than that they could receive in their
own communities. Many of these children met with a cold reception from the
schools they were seeking to access. The Boston Public School System provides
an example of the problems that occurred related to busing. The buses were met
by "mobs of screaming, rock-hurling whites in South Boston Fighting
between white and black students at South Boston High School led at times to a
massive police presence at the school, 'a cop for every kid,' observers said"
(Walsh, 2000). Another response to the desegregation of schools via busing was
the mass exodus of Whites from the inner city public schools. The White
population in the Boston Public Schools declined from 50% to 15%, with most
Whites moving to the suburbs.
The quest for the education of African Americans has lasted centuries;
during this time Freedom School programs were present. The three programs
discussed in this research provided an education to people who: did not have
access to education during slavery; had access to inferior education only, prior to
civil rights; or who are not succeeding today in the mainstream system. Although
the three generations of Freedom Schools are not well known by most people,
they have provided an invaluable service to the communities in which they
existed. Research showed that the early Freedom School programs had specific
and easily identifiable challenges, while the current program has a much harder
enemy to identify. John Berry Meachum’s Freedom School program was
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challenged by the presence of slavery and laws that prohibited the education of
Blacks, whether free or slave. The SNCC Freedom School program faced the
obstacles of segregation and blatant inequalities within the educational system.
The CDF/BCCC Freedom School program faces problems that are more
complex and harder to identify. The sources of today’s problems are both internal
and external in relationship to the Black community.
The internal problems that plague the Black community include
educational underachievement, violence, crime, substance abuse, and teen
pregnancy. Educationally, the consistent gap between Black and White high
school completion is slowly closing, but the number of Black students attending
and completing college continues to lag far behind their counterparts. When
Blacks between the age of 18 and 21 do attend college, they are twice as likely
as White students the same age to enroll in classes that are below college level.
Additionally, Black youth still fall behind in educational achievement and on
standardized exams, although this gap too is closing. Many Black children live in
communities where they and their families face stresses from poor economics
and social conditions; these factors are harmful to their educational achievement.
The children often spend up to three hours after school without any adult
supervision, since many children come from single-parent homes. In many cases
the television in the home becomes the babysitter. Black children today watch
television more than 28 hours a week. These factors and others contribute to the
poor performance of Black youth in school (BCCC, 1993).
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Due to the presence of gangs and other violent perpetrators in the
community, Black children of all ages are three to 10 times more likely than their
counterparts to become victims of violent crimes, including homicide, in America
(BCCC, 1993). The chance of becoming a victim of homicide increases
depending upon age and gender, since many of these deaths are a result of
firearms and two out of five Black males self-report that they have earned a
weapon to school; half of these reportedly carried firearms.
“Black juveniles were more than five times as likely as their White peers
to be arrested for violent crimes in 1990” (BCCC, 1993, p. 99). The numbers for
Black youth in the criminal justice system were on the climb while the numbers
for White children were declining. The numbers of Black youth in the juvenile
justice system increased by 30%, while the number of White youths declined
26% between 1985 and 1989. While Blacks only constitute 12.3% of the total
population in 1990, on any single day the numbers of Black youth in a juvenile
facility often represented up to 42% of the total incarcerated population.
Substance abuse, including drugs and alcohol, has presented an ever
growing problem in the Black community for decades. The drug of choice today
for many Black youth and adults is cocaine. Black young adults are less likely to
use drugs than their White counterparts, but they are twice as likely to use
cocaine (BCCC, 1993). The statistics on alcohol abuse are not as readily
available, but BCCC found that more than half of the juvenile offenders in long
term juvenile facilities used alcohol, illegal drugs, or both regularly before they
were committed to custody.
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American teens are iikeiy to become pregnant eariier than their
counterparts in any other western nation, regardless of race. Of the teens who
become pregnant, data show those who are poor and lack basic skills are more
likely to become pregnant (BCCC, 1993). Black youth are inordinately
represented among the poor and also among teens that become pregnant. More
than 3,000,000 more Black children are bom in poverty than their White
counterparts, and Black teens are more than twice as likely to give birth between
the ages of 15 and 19. In 1970 50% of Black young adults were married, but in
1990 this number declined to 20%. Many of these young ladies are parents. This
trend has resulted in six out of 10 Black preschoolers living with one parent only
(BCCC, 1993). These parents are younger and less educated than the parents of
White children and are thus less equipped to raise children. These young parents
usually work or are looking for work, but in either case they are not able to
financially sustain themselves above the poverty rate, and their home setting
shows it.
External factors are present in all of these examples, although in some
cases these factors are not easily measured. One of the most prevalent factors in
all of these examples, although it is not easily measured, is hopelessness.
Several authors have spoken of hopelessness and its consequences, including
Erickson (1982), Kozol (1992), Parker (1997), and West (1993,1997). This
problem is both internal and external, but it is also the consequence of
generations of an unequal social system.
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The external factors in the educational system are manifested in the daiiy
experience of Black children as opposed to other children. “The schools that
serve Black students remain segregated by income and race, and are resource-
poor; in too many cases they fail to encourage high expectations for all children
and to put in practice the belief that all children can leam” (BCCC, 1993, pp. 79-
80). Daedalus (1995) committed a whole issue to the problems of schools that
are still separate and very unequal. Any person has but to walk into a school that
serves minority and poor children and then into a school that is predominantly
White to see the difference. The problem also extends to getting good, sensitive
teachers in the schools (Kozol, 1992). The funding in schools that serve persons
labeled “minorities” show the real meaning of that word. The term denotes power;
financial power, power that comes from financial resources, and power in the
educational system. People of color need to look at this system seriously and
begin making those changes they can, internally and externally.
In the area of violence, the American social system labels Black children
criminals almost before they commit a crime. Rasuli Lewis, Rheedlen Center in
Harlem and Manhattan, noted that many young people who are labeled
predators begin to act out this expectation. Erickson (1982) called this tendency
“rejectivity,” Reza (1993) called it “internalized oppression,” Bandura (1986)
called it “reciprocal determinism,” while many other theorists called this behavior
a “self-fulfilling prophecy.” The nation is now dealing with the “nihilistic threat” that
West (1993) spoke about.
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Worden (2000) noted, “while the majority of juveniles arrested nationwide
are white, minority youth who have no prison record are six times as likely to be
incarcerated than whites with the same background” (p. 1). The treatment given
Black youth is consistently harsher than that given White youth at every stage in
the juvenile justice system. Black youths are given longer prison sentences, are
more often tried as adults, and are more likely to be sentenced to adult facilities
than any other youths. The police are more aggressive in their behavior when
they deal with Blacks, which leads to a higher rate of minority arrest. Worden
notes that Jerry Wells, executive director of the Koch Crime Institute in Topeka,
Kansas, said “it is police harassment, poverty and the general sense of
hopelessness that propels many minority youths into committing crimes in the
first place” (Worden, 2000, p. 2). One state stood out in this report and others;
California was found to disproportionately transfer minority offenders to adult
prisons as compared to other youth offenders.
Substance abuse and teen pregnancy both reflect the hopelessness and
the felt lack of options by many Black youth. Efforts to find more defining reasons
for these problems have fallen short. The schools are teaching classes on
substance abuse and sex education, but the problems continue to exist. Although
hopelessness is an internal feeling, these young people must fight against the
r% / *1 HO *1 \ an/4 ( "I H C 7 V S t J V l O Cl I I U U t o i l Ol I V II U l I I I lOl I t t \J I I I Q I I I tail 1 I l u p c . I V V S t lV S V V I U . y I 1992,1995) provide examples of this daily battle to maintain hope. The CDF/BCCC used the model and experiences of the SNCC program to develop, improve, and expand the current Freedom School. The SNCC Freedom Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 239 School lasted one year and was in Mississippi. College students are trained to teach and interact with the younger students. One of the primary improvements to the program is that the opportunities to work in the Freedom School program have expanded to include all students, not only those who could afford to support themselves. The interns today are paid, and the basic structure of pay is established by CDF/BCCC. There is also a concerted effort to provide role models for the students in the program at all levels. The individual sites have maintained the right for each site to develop in accordance to the needs of the community. Although all of the Freedom Schools hold to the same primary premise, we can make a difference and change things for the people served in the program; they can express this differently and reflect the needs of the community served. Mississippi was the primary focus of the 1964 program while the current program has set the goal of institutionalizing the program in as many states as possible. In 1997 a stated goal was to serve 2000 children by 2000, this number has been surpassed. Between 1992 and 2000 the Freedom School program grew from one site to 58 sites, plus several affiliates in sixteen states and the District of Columbia. The current program includes at least three cities where the sites are actively involved with the public school system. Churches host more than 50% of the sites; the others are hosted by community centers, schools; and women’s civic organizations. The current Freedom School program has set a goal of institutionalizing the Freedom School program by either the continual Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 240 operation of the summer and after-school programs or the incorporation of the philosophies and ideas of the program in mainstream organizations. This chapter summarizes the purpose, methodology and key findings of this research on the Freedom School program. It then explores the implications of the study for the nation, educators, the African American community, and for the researcher. The CDF/BCCC Freedom School program seeks to teach all involved that they “can make a difference.” The goal of this research is to ask others whether they too “can make a difference” in the lives and education of all children. Finally this chapter includes a personal reflection from the researcher. Summary of the Study One of the greatest and most devastating changes that has occurred since the civil rights movement and the Freedom School in1964 is the change to the family and community structure (BCCC, 1993). There is a growth in single parents, teen parenting, Black-on-Black crime, substance abuse, and general hopelessness within the Black community. This is the greatest challenge faced by the CDF/BCCC Freedom School. The focus of this study is the Freedom School program, a program that began and is run primarily in the African American community. This research began with a primary focus on the program run by CDF/BCCC but the early research soon revealed that two programs preceded this one, the 1964 SNCC program and the 1847 St. Louis program founded by John Berry Meachum. Each of these programs addressed a problem that has challenged America for more than four hundred years, the education of Blacks. The Freedom School programs Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 241 span a time period of more than 150 years, a period that prompted the historical perspective of this study. At least two Freedom School programs have leadership development as a component; thus, this research provides a perspective on leadership within the African American community. The goal of this study was to gain a better understanding of the two most recent Freedom School programs and the leadership development modes utilized. Additionally, preliminary information on the earliest Freedom School was compiled. Four questions were asked to guide this research: 1. What social, political, and educational factors led to the development of both Freedom Schools? 2. What are the underlying assumptions or philosophies of the CDF/BCCC Freedom School program? 3. What is the leadership model used by the current Freedom School program? 4. How does the Freedom School model of leadership compare to transformational leadership literature? The three Freedom School programs were compared and points of similarities and differences were found. The similarities included the focus on the African American community, educational enrichment, self-esteem building, Black history, and the use of college students as teachers. The points of divergence include the societal challenges, ethnic make up of the staff, areas of origin of the staff, staff compensation, location of the program, and long range planning. Three of these divergent findings need further explanation. First, the Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 242 origin of the staff during the SNCC program was primarily from outside the community, from Northern colleges. The CDF/BCCC Freedom School staff comes primarily from within the community. Second, the location of the programs run by SNCC was exclusively Mississippi. The exact number of reported sites in Mississippi range from 33 to 41, with those most intimately involved with the program consistently holding to the count of 41. The SNCC program was run in 20 different counties in the state. The CDF/BCCC Freedom School program runs in 17 states. Until 1999 there was no Freedom School located in Mississippi. There is now only one program run out of Mayor Unita Blackwell’s office in Mayersville. Third, there was an absence of long range planning for the SNCC program since it was developed to meet the immediate need of utilizing the primarily White students coming from the North. This absence of long range planning resulted in the program lasting for the summer only, with the exception of three sites. Holt (1995) notes that each teacher was expected to train someone from the community to take over at the end of the summer, but that did not occur in all places. Long range planning is a focus of the current CDF/BCCC Freedom School. This planning focuses on the continuation of the program. Data for some areas of comparison were not fully available; the source of funding from other than personal contributions of the volunteers and the Black community was unknown. Black community members housed and fed many of the volunteers, it is not known whether the other civil rights organizations provided funding for the SNCC Freedom School. It is not known whether the federal government provided any financial support. A full understanding of the Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 243 curriculum of the SNCC Freedom School was not gained. Cobb (1990) and Holt (1995) provide the most comprehensive explanation of the curriculum during training, but one of the major goals of the work with the students in Mississippi was to get them to question the things around them and not to accept the things that they were taught as the truth. Teachers in the regular school system were not free to challenge the system and the information taught (Holt, 1995). The study of the social, political, and educational context of the Freedom Schools resulted in the development of themes and conclusions drawn for each of the guiding questions, based on an extensive literature review, observations, and interviews. Victoria Adams’ statement “Everything has changed and nothing has changed” summarizes many of the findings in the contexts of the Freedom School programs. Assimilation of Blacks in the mainstream culture continues to be a problem. Although the Black middle class has grown and assimilated, those Blacks living below the poverty line remains constant and segregated. They are now even more isolated from their middle class counterparts. The equal treatment according to human equality, is measured by the equal treatment by the law, has changed little, especially when you look at the inequalities in the court system. Just as Mississippi imprisoned Blacks longer for offenses that were less serious than those committed by Whites, several sources on the conviction of Blacks versus Whites for cocaine possession show that this is still a problem (Fletcher, 2000; Sklar, 1995; Worden, 2000a, 2000b). Differential treatment is also apparent in the number of young Blacks tried and jailed as adults (Worden, 2000a). In San Diego the last three high-profile crimes Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 244 by White youth, the beating of migrant workers and the shootings at Santana and Granite Hills High Schools, have each challenged the constitutionality of trying teens as adults, while Black youth are continually tried as adults with little challenge. Economic status was referred to in the area of assimilation. The percentage of blacks living in poverty has not changed. What has changed is the number of persons living without any income at all. This number has increased (BCCC, 1993). The educational structure that was established when the first schools for Blacks were established has made subtle changes in ways many would call fair, but the results are the same. Funding of schools made up of primarily Black students and new immigrants are consistently funded below those that are primarily White. The basis for this differential funding is now the property tax. Schools are still highly segregated because of the isolated pockets of Blacks, the flight of Whites to the suburbs, and the ending of busing in many places. Summary of Methodology The methodology used in this research project plays an integral part in assuring that voices of Black leaders, especially the Freedom School voices, are heard. Qualitative methodology, specifically case study methodology, provided a perspective not obtainable using quantitative methodology. The quantitative study provides a means to measure a phenomenon, predict an occurrence, prove an occurrence, and then apply the findings to a larger population. In contrast this study had the goal of understanding from a different perspective the Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 245 development and purpose of the Freedom School. This understanding was gained through literature review, observation, and interviews. The case study methodology in research recognizes that there are multiple realities and that reality is shaped in context. This concept of multiple realities came into prominence during the 1960s, the same time as the civil rights movement and the development of one of the Freedom School programs. Prior to this time the factors used to determine reality and truth were usually based upon a single standard, that of White, middle-class males (Gilligan, 1993). This standard to judge and categorize all people was not questioned until the 1960s (Gilligan, 1993). The process of change from the use of one standard to determine reality and judge differences is slow, but today there is awareness that these standards do not fit all people, ethnic groups and genders. The use of these standards often led to a deficit model when assessing those with a different background, especially those of African American heritage. The case study’s use of the words of those involved in an experience does not look for one reality but the individual perspectives of those studied. The study of the Freedom School fit this model. Merriam (1988) defines several aspects of a qualitative case study. It is particularistic, descriptive, heuristic and inductive. Particularistic means that the specific focus is on one situation, event, program or phenomenon. “Case studies ‘concentrate attention on the way particular groups of people confront specific problems, taking a holistic view of the situation (Merriam, 1988, p. 11).”’ Descriptive means that the final product in case study is rich in description. Heuristic means that the understanding of the reader is Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 246 enhanced and illuminated by the study. Inductive means that inductive reasoning, generalizations, concepts, or hypotheses are developed as a process of the study. The use of this methodology provided a greater understanding of the Freedom School programs. The observation of the current Freedom School program over more than a four-year period enriched this research. Although interviews and the literature review were emphasized primarily in the reporting of the data, the participant observations added greatly to the richness and understanding of the Freedom Schools. Observations allowed the researcher to gain information on the different sites, determine which sites provided a wide and diverse view of the program, and gave the researcher access to the sites. The combination of the literature review, observations, and interviews led the researcher to emerging patterns and themes that helped to focus this research. The goal of this study went beyond just the gaining of an understanding of the Freedom School program. It is the researcher’s hope that this research will expand the dialogue on how the American educational system educates African Americans and bring about changes. This dialogue should occur when decisions of school spending are made, when new and continuing teachers are trained, and in schools of education when curriculum is developed. Schratz and Walker (1995) view the use of qualitative research as a means of social change. Research involves asking questions that are no longer just the concern of the specialists but have become ubiquitous demands made on many Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 247 people in many circumstances; demands that are not just technical but which have social, political and moral implications. (Schratz & Walker p. 3) Schratz and Walker note that instead of professing that the researcher does not have any personal interest in the nature and results of their research product, the researcher is seen as connected to the research by personal concerns and interests. Providing a different perspective, recognizing that there are many ways to see the same subject, and knowing that none of these perspectives own the real truth allows the researcher and others to adopt a more holistic view of the world, if they are able to incorporate other views. The incorporation of others’ views is not an easy process. It is hard to listen to a perspective when we are not able to connect with it, and even harder to suspend our beliefs to include those of others. The first step to social change is to realize and respect that there are different perspectives. Summary of Key Findings This study explored the history of the Freedom School program, the history of Blacks in America, and a model of leadership in the Black community. The exploration was from the perspective of those who were and are active in one of the programs. An extensive study of Black history is contained in this research to aid the reader to understand the development of the Freedom School programs. Key findings in the area of the history of Blacks are those that stood out most in the study as they relate to education in the past and today. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 248 Information on Blacks in leadership positions is scarce in the curriculum of leadership programs. The civil rights movement illuminated the leadership ability of the African American community, but most people focus primarily on the works of one person and one group, Martin Luther King, Jr. and SCLC. Some also look at the work of Malcolm X. This research looked at the works of SNCC and CDF/BCCC and how their work relates to leadership in the Black community. Number one: Three generations of Freedom Schools. This research began in 1997 with a study that focused on the CDF/BCCC Freedom School. CDF/BCCC began their Freedom School program in 1992 and has run it for eight years. A case study was planned to understand the nature and content of this Freedom School program. Approximately three months into the study, information was acquired on the Freedom School developed by SNCC in 1964. This program ran for one summer in Mississippi during the civil rights movement. The discovery of the second program led the researcher to use historical methodology as one of the techniques in this case study. Both of these programs were developed and run in the African American community, so ethnographic techniques were also used. In 1998 an additional Freedom School was found and added to this study. John Berry Meachum began this program in 1847 in St. Louis. The three Freedom School programs are related in two different ways: (1) they were each founded in the African American community to specifically meet the needs that were not being addressed by other groups or organizations: (2) Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 249 they each addressed ihe educaiionai needs of the community. The latter two programs were more directly related. The discovery of the three Freedom School programs confirmed and solidified the choice of methodology, case study using historical and ethnographic techniques. The goal was first to understand what Freedom Schools are via the case study. The second goal was to determine the historical context, including the social, political, and educational contexts, of the CDF/BCCC. The third goal of the researcher was to leam the CDF/BCCC’s relationship to the African American community. The choice of methodology provided information in each of these areas. Number two: CDF/BCCC and CDF/BCCC Freedom Schools. The relationship of the Freedom School programs, especially the programs run by CDF/BCCC and SNCC, was fully illuminated. The SNCC program provided a foundation for the CDF/BCCC program. These two programs had points in common. Ella Baker was present and provided her unobtrusive leadership during the 1964 program. Both leadership spirit and the nature of Ella Baker are still present in the current program, through readings and training. College students were used in both programs to provide role models for the children served. The Freedom School programs provided training to those college students who sought to meet the needs of the time and social context of the program. Each program was developed with a goal of enhancing the self esteem of those served. Each program contained a leadership development component that focused on enhancing community leadership. The programs Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 250 were also developed to meet the needs of Blacks who were not receiving the education necessary for them to adequately function in society. The points of divergence in the programs were found in two areas: the social context and the structural changes based on the knowledge gained by CDF/BCCC after analyzing the SNCC program. A structure was developed to pay college students who participate in the program. The college students come primarily from the African American community, so the children can see that others like them can succeed. During 1964 the Freedom School was set exclusively in Mississippi. The schools in Mississippi, like most of the schools in the South and many of the schools in other regions of America, were segregated. In Mississippi the schools that served Blacks were missing major content such as typing and upper level math that would equip the children for the workforce. They also missed classes that were considered enriching, such as drama and foreign languages. The Freedom School curriculum provided the courses that were normally missing from schools serving Blacks, as well as Black history and the history of the civil rights movement. Throughout the years, the education of Blacks has fallen behind that of Whites. Authors like Hermstein and Murray (1994) determined the problems of underachievement in education were based on the innate ability or lack of ability of Blacks, but this research indicates that much of this discrepancy was caused by the differential system used to educate Blacks. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 251 in A Nation At Risk (U.S. Department of Education, 1993) the problems in today’s educational system were illuminated. The greatest discrepancies between the achievement of Blacks and that of Whites were in the area of reading and science. The CDF/BCCC Freedom School chose to emphasize one of these areas where Blacks lag behind, reading. Instead of directly working to improve reading, specific literature was used to build self-esteem, a love for reading, and further, a love for school. Number three: Ongoing funding discrepancies in education. Beginning with the first public schools opened to African Americans in 1865 there was a funding differential. The difference in funding during the early years of this country was blatant and without explanation. Money for education comes from both state and federal funds, but the states manage and distribute these funds. In many states, especially Mississippi, where the largest number of Blacks lived as slaves, and during the civil rights movement, this differential funding was more apparent (Brown, 1996, Edelman, 1999; Haskins, 1998; Meltzer, 1970). Today the difference in funding of educational facilities for Blacks is explained by establishing the local property tax as the means for funding the education of the students served in some communities (Hale, 1994; Kozol, 1992). Since many Blacks continue to live in blighted areas, the taxes are low. This fact was illuminated with ihe visit to East St. Louis, Illinois. In riding through East St. Louis there was a significant absence of businesses and industry; there were numerous abandoned, substandard homes. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 252 The examples of East St. Louis and other provided by Kozoi (1992) made it extremely clear that these discrepancies were detrimental to schools in predominantly Black communities. Many of the same courses were taught in the predominantly Black schools, but the supplies and equipment were lacking. The primary ways for the youth in East St. Louis to escape poverty is through either music or sports. Kozol (1992) explains, “Even sports facilities, however, are degrading by comparison with those found and expected at most high schools in America. The football field at East St. Louis High is missing everything - including the goalposts. There are a couple of metal pipes - no crossbar, just the pipes” (Kozol, 1992, p. 25). T h e science labs at East St. Louis High are 30 to 50 years outdated” (Kozol, 1992, p. 27). T h e biology lab . . . has no laboratory tables . . . The chemistry lab is the only one that’s properly equipped . . . [but] the lab is unsafe with more than 20 children to a teacher — Even text are scarce” (Kozol, 1992, p. 28). The teacher’s pay scale in East St. Louis is substantially less than those in the neighboring schools. Thus many of the teachers in the schools are those who cannot get jobs in the other schools or have lost positions in other schools. This does not mean that there are not good teachers who want to be in the schools that are made up of predominantly students of color. It is just unfortunate that there are just as many who are waiting for their next move, whether it is retirement or the school of their choice. Number four: Lack of Black history. Despite the writings of Carter G. Woodson in 1933 there is still a lack of education of Blacks about their own history; the CDF/BCCC Freedom School Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 253 program was developed to begin exposing young children to that history. Woodson noted that education of African Americans led to self-contempt because it failed to teach them anything about themselves, and it taught them to value other cultures more than their own. It is unfortunate that this is still a problem in many if not most public schools. Most public schools set the month of February aside to share the history of African Americans. Black history, which is ingrained in the total history of this country, only gets limited exposure. Most students who want to learn more about Black history must wait until they get to college, or study on their own. History is a strong component of all of the programs beginning in 1964. The teaching of all aspects of history that is not loaded with shame and other negative values helps to develop in the children a better sense of self. The developmental consequences of the education available to Blacks are becoming more apparent. Those children who have positive sources of feedback and ways of building strength outside of the educational system fare much better than those who don’t. Clark (1984) found that success is built upon support systems that come from home and school. The Freedom School adds another component to that support system. Parents who provide support for their children that leads to success must have a good sense of self that only comes from their own support systems in the community. Clark reported his findings in a study on success or failure among children living in poverty in the following statement: Families whose members are emotionally able to love, cooperate, support one another, and find support outside the home are usually more satisfied Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 254 with their lives Though a certain amount of psychological violence and turmoil seemed inevitable in these high-stress communities, a continual parent-child love bond enabled some families to enjoy a strong achievement orientation and to produce competent students. Conversely, in some families, deep emotional turmoil abounded due to long-term powerlessness, mistrust, discord, confusion, and anger. This situation tended to prompt family members to abuse themselves and one another. (p. 210) The Freedom School programs have worked to develop the support for the parents as well as the children they serve. Parents with children in the program repeatedly comment on how helpful the program is for them and how much they have learned about their history. Parents often borrow the books used in the program for the children or read the books given to their children as part of the program. The greatest success in school comes when families work closely with schools to support the learning of their children. Schools need leadership and teachers who are committed to the development of the children with whom they work. This commitment requires educators to understand that they have a personal stake in the success of the children in their schools. This personal stake and commitment is not present when teachers are just waiting for a chance to move on. The positive interaction between educators and students also requires a mutual respect on both sides. Many educators do not have an adequate understanding of the African American culture and history or continue to work Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 255 from the deficit modei. This makes it difficult to develop the mutual respect needed. The Freedom School program works with parents in weekly meetings, addressing issues of concern and working with them to become more aware of their own interaction with the schools; thus they give skills to help them deal with the disrespect they often feel or encounter with teachers and administrators. The major goal of this component of the program is to encourage and equip parents to become more involved in the children’s schooling. Number five: Ella Baker. Ella Baker was a major influence in the leadership philosophy of the Freedom School program as well as the SNCC program. Miss Baker was given the name “Fundi,” which denotes one who passes on wisdom of the elders, the crafts, and the knowledge. Her goals were the development of the next generation of leaders and to help them develop those that followed them. CDF/BCCC has incorporated this philosophy in its Freedom School program. Ella Baker began her fight for civil rights in 1929 and gave her last major speech in 1974. She was honored at the Carnegie Endowment for Peace in 1979 at the age of 75 and given an honorary doctorate by City College of New York in 1985. Baker died in 1986. Ella Baker was involved with many of the well-known civil rights organizations during the 60s and before, including the NAACP, Urban League, SCLC, and SNCC. She also organized or was involved in organizations that were lesser-known, including the Young Negroes’ Cooperative League, the National Negro Congress, the Southern Conference Educational Fund, the Mississippi Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 256 Freedom Democratic Party, the Coalition of Concerned Black Americans, the Mass Party Organizing Committee, and the Puerto Rican Solidarity Committee. In these organizations and others she was a leader, organizer, and trainer. Ella Baker often traveled in the South where most Blacks would not travel; she usually traveled alone. She established many of the contacts that other organizations used later, especially SNCC. Despite her work and presence in most of the movement, Ella Baker remains generally unknown. The nature and philosophy of Baker’s leadership explains this anonymity. She was opposed to one person taking the forefront in the leadership process. She believed that the group should take primacy. This leadership style came into conflict with many of the leaders during the time of the civil rights movement. In the study of leadership the examples of Black leaders are few. Additionally women leaders, although more than Black leaders, are still scarce. Ella Baker is important because she provides an example of both. I question if any of these leadership programs have any knowledge of Miss Baker and her work. Number six: The transformational leadership of Freedom Schools. An analysis of the leadership philosophy of the Freedom School program showed that it met the components of transformational leadership outlined by Bums (1979), Foster (1989), Rost (1991) and other transformational leadership theorists. The components of the Freedom School program include a vision of a social system that is different, the exchange of ideas that shared and enhanced Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 257 that vision, leadership that is dynamic and changes according to who is best suited to assume the position, and the effort to bring about real social change. The motto of the program, “I can make a difference,” encourages participants in the program at all levels to work to make a difference. The program starts with the individual child in the program and then moves out to include the family, community, country, and world. Providing a safe, nurturing place for the children in the program is the first step. The parent groups, not limited to the immediate family, are the second step. CDF/BCCC and individual Freedom School sites have worked to spread the philosophy of the Freedom School within their communities and across the country. These are the third and fourth steps. The fifth step is not as easy to achieve. Social change in this area can come as a process of educating all children adequately to interact in this age of information technology and global economics. The preeminence of the educational system has slipped over the years; much of that is due to the poor performance of students of color as reflected inA Nation At Risk (U.S. Department of Education, 1993). The only way to regain that preeminence is through better education of all who access our schools. Implications The primary goal of this research project was to understand the Freedom School program. Beyond that goal is social change. Social change only occurs when the content of the research has some significance to the researcher or the reader or both, content that can be applied to other situations or settings. The researcher believes that her findings have implications for the nation, for Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 258 education, for the African American community, and for individuals, especially the researcher. Every organization and individual must assess the results of a failure to change and their part in that stagnation. The failure to change costs everyone financially, socially, or in both areas. Nationally, as shown in A Nation At Risk (U.S. Department of Education, 1993), we are losing ground as a powerhouse in education and technology. This is partially, if not greatly, due to our failure to educate all people equally. This country is losing potential with every child who is discouraged and turned off by school. President Harry Truman provided insight into the national implications of continued discrimination (Zinn, 1990). In 1946 Truman appointed a Committee on Civil Rights. This committee made several recommendations. The recommendations included the expansion of the civil rights section of the department of justice, the development of a permanent Commission on Civil Rights, as well as stronger laws to end racial discrimination in jobs, and to combat voter’s rights violations, lynching, and other crimes. “Truman’s Committee was blunt about its motivation in making these recommendations. Yes, it said, there was ‘moral reason:’ a matter of conscience. But there was also an ‘economic reason’ - discrimination was costly to the country, wasteful of its talent” (Zinn, 1990, p. 440). The Committee also sited international reasons for the recommended changes: the civil rights record of the country was an issue of world politics. Today as the United States continues to be the watchdog for the civil rights of people around the world, the country has only made minimal Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 259 changes to its own civii rights record, especiaiiy in education. This country must continually evaluate its own civil rights record. Educationally, there must be an assessment of a system that has not changed in hundreds of years, especially as our population becomes more diverse. This study focus on the education of African Americans, but the assessment must not stop there. The implications for the educational system relate to the calls for educational reform that have reappeared on several occasions throughout the history of public education. Many of the earlier cries for reform came from families unequally served by the educational system, such as the Black families in Boston who protested inequalities, and boycotted against the schools prior to the Civil War (Haskins, 1998; Zinn, 1990). This research found some entrenched policies and practices within the educational system that support and maintain these inequalities such as unequal funding, curriculum that is less strenuous in schools for Blacks, attitudes that Blacks are less capable, and limited access to higher education. Those working in the field of education need to evaluate their own beliefs about other cultures. They have a significant impact on those who pass through the schools and through their classrooms. There are two broader implications for the educational system, both for those who train other educators and for the educational system as a whole. There should always be a component of study that not only helps those who would be teachers to understand the culture but also the culture in the context of education. Differential spending in the educational system began with public education and continues today. This country must evaluate the worth of each Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 260 person who comes through its educational system and decide whether they can easily waste human potential by spending less on African Americans and those in lower income brackets, and whether it is more beneficial to imprison a large part of the community instead of educating it (Connolly, McDermid, Schlraldi, & Macallair, 1996) The African American community must look at those strengths that have carried them through in the past. The individualistic rhetoric of some Black people who have overcome obstacles to reach positions of prominence but fail to see the backs and hands of those who helped them is not productive to the community. The implication for the African American community is repeated throughout the philosophy of CDF/BCCC; the connections of all facets of the community must be renewed and strengthened. Those of us “who have made it” cannot leave those in the slums and ghettoes behind. We must be role models for those in our communities. The implications for the researcher are also clear. I can make a difference in myself, my family, my community, and my world. Davis (1988) responded to a question about why Black women did not take a very active role in the movement to empower women. She responded that the relationship of Black women and men as well as the agenda of Black women differs greatly from those of the women’s movement. She stated, “empowerment is hardly new to Afro-American women .. .we have been organized in bodies that have sought collectively to develop strategies that illuminated the way to economic and political power for ourselves and our communities” (Davis, 1988, p. 348). Davis repeatedly used Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 261 one term “Lift as W e Ciimb,” the motto of the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs, to describe the relationship that was relevant in the Black community. As I grow as an individual I must be mindful that I am always lifting others as I climb to whatever heights I reach. There must be an individual as well as a collective response to the need of the community, especially the need to empower the Black community. Recommendations The recommendations that result from this study are very much in line with the implications for the study and are primarily for the policymakers in the educational system and in the Freedom School program. There are also implications for African American organizations and communities. Education. • Policymakers nationally must take a critical look at the differential funding of education. The long history of underfunding schools in low-income neighborhoods has cost this country valuable resources. • Policymakers must also incorporate greater options for multi-cultural curriculum in the K-12 grades in public school. Although the data from the Freedom School program on reading is only anecdotal at this time, many parents report that their children read more, and like reading more, when they are reading about their own history. • Policymakers in each public school system and universities that educate teachers should review the practices of programs like the Freedom School to determine if any can be incorporated in mainstream programs. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 262 • Policymakers in schools of education must strengthen the curriculum used to educate future educators to improve their ability to work in a multi cultural setting. The history of education for African Americans is so unique, and has had such an impact on the learning and participation in school, that it should be understood by those who teach in inner city schools, if not all teachers. Freedom School Recommendations. • Policymakers in the national offices of CDF/BCCC can strengthen the West Coast Freedom Schools with regional training. There are plans to develop regional training, but there is no timeline for this training. Many of the West Coast programs have failed because they cannot afford the program. The travel expenses are some of the greatest expenses for the programs. • Policymakers in CDF/BCCC and the local programs must strengthen the evaluation portion of the program. The current means of evaluating the success of the program is by monitoring the attendance. A true evaluation of the reading ability of the students is not appropriate - because the college students who work in the program are not trained in reading improvement — but one of the best ways to evaluate the program is the development of a line of communication with the public schools on a site- by-site basis. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 263 African American organizations and communities. • The African American community must return to the collective attitude that moved it forward in the past. Thai collective attitude is manifested in the support and mentoring we give to each other, especially those that are falling behind. • African American churches, communities, and professional organizations must continue to support and develop programs that strengthen and encourage our youth, especially in education. Personal Reflection and Conclusion The study of the Freedom School programs has not concluded with this study. This researcher views this study as a work in progress for two reasons: first, there is still a gap in the study as it relates to the 1847 Freedom School program; secondly, this study led me to a more in-depth study of my culture than I ever received in school. The continuation of this study will allow me to leam more about the Freedom School begun by Robert Berry Meachum and its relationship to the SNCC and CDF/BCCC Freedom School programs. I believe there is a relationship, especially because the SNCC program used as one of its models a program in Chicago. The proximity of Chicago to East St. Louis makes me suspect that the schools may be related. The study of this connection will be a greater challenge than any other part of this study. I have two sources that are potential aids in this study, Robert Tabscott and Charlie Cobb. The Rev. Tabscott is the leading authority on the 1847 Freedom School program and Charlie Cobb was the force behind the development of the SNCC Freedom School. Hopefully Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 264 the oral history of the Black culture and written documentation wiii lead to an answer to the question as to the relationship of these two programs. It is unfortunate that many, if not most, Blacks know very little about their history. The lack of education on Black culture and history has prevailed throughout most of the history of education. The history needed is not only from the perspective of others, those who have a stake in continuing the study of history as it is, but must contain ideas and perspectives of the diverse population that makes up this country. During Black History Week in the 1960s I was taught that I was the descendent of slaves, and we read Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Each year slavery was taught. It wasn’t until I reached college and the first Black history, literature, and other culturally sensitive classes were taught that I learned more about history and value added to this country by African Americans than just the legacy of slavery. It wasn’t until 1991 when I visited Virginia and viewed some of the slave quarters that remained that I really began to value the strength of the people who survived the devastating effect of slavery. It wasn’t until the early 1990s that I learned of the many inventions developed by Blacks. It wasn’t until I began this study that I truly took the time to do an in-depth study of my own culture. That in-depth study probably slowed the process of this study of the Freedom Schools, but the time was truly valuable. Today most African American young people still do not leam to really value their culture, with all of its intricacies. The Freedom School program is trying to change that. Through further study I would also like to change that. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 265 The seeds of this research project were planted many years ago and saw their first sprouts with two papers I wrote as an undergraduate at San Diego State University: The Socialization of Children (1969) and Covert Prejudice in Education (1970). As a young person I was aware that there was a problem in the way Blacks were socialized to think about themselves and the way the educational system dealt with Black children. Unfortunately I do not think much has changed since the 1960s. This nation has failed to recognize the valuable contributions made by Blacks and has lost many of the contributions that could have been made if everyone began with equal footing and equitable care. I really wonder how much more this nation is willing and able to lose. The leadership capacity of Blacks is also overlooked and lost because of pre-determined limits, whether conscious or unconscious. This research process initially began in 1995 with a draft of a dissertation proposal on community-based leadership for social change in the African American community. After completing this draft I had a theme, but I didn’t have a program strong enough to study. I still had more courses to complete after this initial draft, so I took the time to further refine my thoughts and decide upon the actual subject of my dissertation. In 1997 this researcher was introduced to the Freedom School program and asked to attend a meeting by the pastor of Bayview Baptist Church to determine if it was a feasible program for the church to participate in. I was given this responsibility because I had chaired a committee called the Social Impact Ministries for approximately three years and was recently chosen to direct the education department for the church. Although the Social Impact Ministry was Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 266 devoted to community-based social change and the subject of my first draft, it did not have the foundation and history needed to serve as a research project for a dissertation. I attended my first training for sponsors in February 1997 and decided that the Freedom School program met all of the characteristics I was looking for in a program that exhibited community-based leadership for social change. The characteristics exhibited included initiation within the African American community; a comprehensive approach to the social problems of the community; a collaborative effort by multiple organizations but united for one purpose; and a leadership development component. These characteristics were identified in the researcher’s 1995 draft. The Freedom School also did something I have always tried to do; it brought into focus the interaction between the social, educational, and developmental (human, family, and community development) components of the community. These three components are integrally related and shape who we are as human beings. The components also reflect the background and education of the researcher; this project is a melding of these components. The Freedom School programs also characterize and bring to the forefront a belief held by the researcher: self-help is a major component of social change. Although I believe self-help is essential, it does not relieve or release this nation from the responsibility it has to its entire population, not just those in positions or groups that are favor. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 267 The new proposal was initially written right after the February 1S97 Freedom School meeting. Although several challenges occurred between the time the proposal was first submitted in March 1997 and the time it was defended and approved on April 2 4 ,1 9 9 9 ,1 believe these things worked together to make the finished product much better than it would have been had it been completed even a year earlier. I only mention the challenges because for so many of the young people, especially the African Americans children the Freedom School program seeks to impact, these frustrations would have been too much and enough to make them quit. There were times when I was angry and frustrated, but the idea of quitting never crossed my mind. I just continued the research. I have been taught that every challenge is an opportunity to do something different; I hope others leam that also. I close this research with two questions: When will we as a nation, as educators, as a community of people, and as individuals see value in our diversity and begin to nurture and develop that diversity? 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A. (1999). Developing democratic citizens: The Mississippi freedom school. In S. Erenrich (Ed.), Freedom is a constant struggle: An anthology of the Mississippi civil lights movement, (pp. 107- 133) Montgomery, AL: Black Belt Press. Clark, K. B. (1955). How children leam about race. Prejudice and your child. (From Words to make my dream child live: A book o f African American quotations, 1995), 81-82. Clark, R. (1984). Family live and school achievement: Why poor Black children succeed or fail. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. Cobb, C. (1990). Organizing freedom schools. In S. Erenrich (Ed.),Freedom is a constant struggle: An anthology of the Mississippi civil rights movement. (pp. 134-137) Montgomery, AL: Black Belt Press. Coffey, A. & Atkinson, P. (1996). Making sense of qualitative data. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Comer, J. P. (1988). Maggie's American dream: The life and times of a black family. New York: New American Library. Comer, J. P. (1993).School power Implications of an intervention project. New York: The Free Press. Comer, J. P. (1997).Waiting for a miracle: Why schools cant solve our problems- and how we can. New York: A Dutton Book. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 270 Connolly, K., McDermid, L., Schiraldi, V., & Macallair, D. (1996). From classrooms to cell blocks: How prison building affects higher education and African American enrollment in California, [On-line]. http://www.cici.orq/ipi/califomia.html Dallard, S. (1990). Ella Baker A leader behind the scene. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Silver Burdett Press. Daniel, P. (1990). The shadow of slavery: Peonage in the south, 1901 -1969. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press. Davis, A. Y. (1988, August). Radical perspective on the empowerment of Afro- American women: Lessons for the 1980s. Harvard Educational Review. 58, 348-353. Delpit, L. (1995).Other people's children: Cultural conflict in the classroom. New York: The New Press. Dittmer, J. (1995).Local People: The struggle for civil rights in Mississippi. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press. Douglass, F. (1855/1969). My bondage and my freedom. New York: Dover Publications. Douglass, F. (1892/1962). The life and times of Frederick Douglass. New York: Collins Books, MacMillan Publishing Company. Du Bois, W. E. B. (1902, September). Of the training of black men.The Atlantic Monthly, 247 (4), 98-108. Edelman, M. W. (1980). Portrait of inequality: black and white children in America. Children's Defense Fund: Washington, D.C. Edelman, M. W. (1988, May). An agenda for empowerment. Essence, pp. 65-66, 132-134. Edelman, M. W. (1999). Lanterns: A memoir of mentors. Boston: Beacon Press. Elliott, J. (1998). Mississippi burning: The files. [On-line]. Available: http://abcnews.qo.com/sections/us/DailyNews/mississippi0318.html Erikson, E. (1982). The life cycle complete. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 271 Fietc'ner, M. A. (2000). Report: War on drugs sends Blacks to prison at 13 times. In The Washington Post [On-line]. Available: http://vvwvv.iesseiactionir.org/issues/i0608001217.html Flinders, D. J. & Mills, G. E. (1993). Theory and concepts in qualitative research: Perspectives from the field. New York: Teachers College Press, Columbia University. Fishkin, S. F. (1997). Lighting out for the territory: Reflections on Mark Twain and American Culture [On-line]. Available: http://www.washinqtonpost.com/wp- srv/stvle/lonqterm/books/chapl/liqhtinqoutfortheterritorv.htm Foster, W. (1989). Toward a critical practice of leadership. In J. Smyth (Ed.). Critical perspective on educational leadership (pp. 39-62). London: Falmer Press. Genovese, E. D. (1975).Roll Jordan, roll: The world the slaves made. New York: Vintage Books. Gilligan, C. (1993). In a different voice: Psychological theory and women's development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Glaser, B. G., & Strauss, A. L. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory. Chicago: Aldine. Goetz, J. P. & LeCompte, M. D. (1984).Ethnography and qualitative design in educational research. Orlando, FL: Academic Press. Gossett, T. F. (1971). Race: The history of an idea in America. New York: Schocken Books. Grant, J. (1998). Ella Baker: Freedom bound. New York: John Wiley and Son. Graubard, S. R. (Ed.) (1995, Fall). Daedalus: Journal of the American academy of arts and science. Cambridge, MA. Greenberg, J. (1994).Crusaders in the courts. New York: Basic Books. Greenleaf, R. K. (1977). Servant leadership: A journey into the nature of legitimate power and greatness. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press. Greenleaf, R. K. (1996).On becoming a servant leader. San Francisco: Jossey- Bass. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 272 Greenleaf, R. K. (1998).The power of servant leadership. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler. Guba, E. G. & Lincoln, Y. S. (1989). Fourth generation evaluation. Newbury Park, CA: Sage. Hacker, A. (1995). Two nations: Black and White, separate, hostile, unequal. New York: Ballantine Books. Hale, J. E. (1994). Unbank the fire: Visions for the education of African American children. Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press. Hale-Benson, J. E. (1986). Black children: Their roots, culture, and learning styles. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press. Haskins, J. (1998). Separate but not equal: The dream and the struggle. New York: Scholastic Press. Hermstein, R, J. & Murray, C. (1994). The bell curve: Intelligence and class structure in American life. New York: The Free Press. Hickerson, N. (1966). Education for alienation. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Holt, G. E. (1992). The African American heritage of St. Louis: A guide [On-line]. Available: http://www.fugax.com/blackstudies/stacentc.htm Holt, L. (1995). The summer that didn't end: The story of the Mississippi civil rights project of 1964. New York: Da Capo Press. Holt, M. (2000). Not yet Tree at last": The unfinished business of the civil rights movement. Oakland, CA: CS Press. Holton, G. & Goroff, D. (1995, Fall). Where is American education going? Report on a convocation. Daedalus. 124, 4,1-42. Houston, P. D. (1995, Fall). School reform through a wide-angle lens: The consideration of context. Daedalus. 124,4,169-172. Howard, J. (1995, Fail). You can’t get there from here: The need for a new logic in education reform.Daedalus. 124, 4, 85-92. Huck, S. W. & Cormier, W. H. (1996).Reading statistics and research. (2nd ed.). New York: Harper Collins College. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 273 John, R. (1988) The Native American family. In C. H. Mindel, R. W. Habenstein, R. Wright, (Eds.), Ethnic families in America: Patterns and variations. New York: Elsevier. Jordan, W. D. (1969). White over Black: American attitudes toward the Negro 1550 - 1812. Baltimore: Penguin Books. Klein, H. S. (1967). Slavery in the Americas: A comparative study of Virginia and Cuba. Chicago: Elephant Paperbacks. Kotlowitz, A. (1991). There are no children here. New York: Doubleday. Kozol, J. (1967). Death at an early age. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company Kozol, J. (1972). Free schools. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company Kozol, J. (1992). Savage inequalities: Children in America’s schools. New York: Harper Perennial Kozol, J. (1995). Amazing grace: The lives of children and the conscience of a nation. New York: Harper Perennial Ladson-Billings, G. (1994). The dreamkeepers: Successful teachers of African American Children. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Latanison, R. M. (1995, Fall). Education reform and the public will. Daedalus. 124, 4,143-148. Litwack, L. F. (1999). Trouble in mind: Black southerners in the age of Jim Crow. New York: Vintage Books. Loewen, J. W. (1996).Lies my teacher told me: Everything your American history textbook got wrong. New York: Touchstone, Simon and Schuster. Maykut, P. & Morehouse, R. (1994). Beginning qualitative research: A philosophic and practical guide. London: The Falmer Press. McAdam, D. (1988). Freedom summer. New York: Oxford Press. McIntosh, P. (1988). White privilege and male privilege: A personal account of coming to see correspondences through work with women's studies. Wellesley, MA: Wellesley College Center for Research on Women. McMillen, M. F. (1996).Missouri’s child: Culture and education in the show-me state [On-line]. Available: http://mosl.sos.state.mo.us/ofman/child7.html Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 274 Meltzer, M. (1970).Freedom comes to Mississippi: The story of reconstruction. Chicago: Follett. Merriam, S. B. (1988). Case study research in education: A qualitative approach. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Miller, J. B. (1986). Toward a new psychology of women. Boston: Beacon Press. Miller, K. D. (1992).Voice of deliverance: The language of Martin Luther King, Jr. and its sources. New York: The Free Press. Mindel, C. H., Habenstein, R. W. & Wright, R. (Eds.). (1988). Ethnic families in America: Patterns and variations. New York: Elsevier. Mintz, S. & Kellogg, S. (1989). Domestic revolution: A social history of American family life. New York: Free Press. Morris, A. D. (1984). The origin of the Civil Rights movement: Black community organizing for change. New York: The Free Press. Murrell, O. Y. (1969). The socialization of children. Unpublished manuscript. Murrell, O. Y. (1970). Covert prejudice in education. Unpublished manuscript. Oshinsky, D. M. (1996). Worse than slavery: Parchment farms and the ordeal of Jim Crow justice. New York: Free Press Paperbacks. Parker, C. S. (1997). The struggle for racial equality: 1964/1994. Boston Review. 19 (6). (Internet Archives). Patton, M. Q. (1987). Howto use qualitative methods in evaluation. Newbury Park, CA: Sage. Payne, C. (1995). I've got the light of freedom: The organizing tradition of the Mississippi freedom strnggle. Berkeley: University of California Press. Payne, C. (1997, March). Education for activism: Mississippi's freedom schools in the 1960s. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Education Research Association, Chicago, IL. Perlstein, D. (1990). Teaching freedom: SNCC and the creation of the Mississippi Freedom Schools.History of Education Quarterly, 30,297-324. Resnick, L. B. (1995, Fall). From aptitude to effort: A new foundation for our schools. Daedalus. 124,4, 55-62. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 275 Reza, J. (1993). “Honoring diversity through knowledge and action: Alternative counseling strategies.” Paper presented at the 1S93 California Community College C.A.R.E. Workshop. San Francisco. Roach, R. & Fields, C. D. (1997, May 15). Mississippi Churning, The latest court ruling raises two questions: When will Mississippi schools be anything but separate and unequal? and Is it time to settle? Black Issues in Higher Education, 14,10-25 Robinson, S. P. (1995, Fall). Life, literacy, and the pursuit of challenges. Daedalus. 124,4 Rost, J. C. (1991). Leadership for the twenty-first century. New York: Praeger. Rost, J. C. (1993, November). Leadership development in the new millennium.The Journal of Leadership Studies. 11, , 93-110. Rothschild, M. A. (1982). The volunteers and the Freedom Schools: Education for social change in Mississippi. History of Education Quarterly, 22,401-420. Ryan, W. (1976). Blaming the victim (rev. ed.). New York: Vintage Books. Sack, K. (1998). Mississippi unseals files of agency that fought desegregation. New York Times [On-line], Available: http://www.law.umkc.edu/facultv/proiects/ftrials/price&bowers/SovereiqntvCo mmission.html Safire, W. (1990, July 15). Empowerment and denouncement.New York Times Magazine, p. 12,14. Schrantz, M. & Walker, R. (1995). Research as social change. London: Routledge. Siegel, B. (1995).Marian Wnght Edelman: The making of a crusader. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. Sitkoff, H. (1992). The struggle for Black equality 1954 - 1980. New York: Hill and Wang. Sizer, T. R. (1995, Fall). Silences.Daedalus. 124,4, 77-84. Sklar, H. (1995). Reinforcing racism with the ware on drugs. Zmagazine. [On-line]. Available: http://www.zmaq/articles/dec95sklar.htm Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 276 Staples, R. (1988). "The Black American family." In C. H. Mindel, R. W. Habenstein, R. Wright, (Eds.), Ethnic families in America: Patterns and variations. New York: Elsevier. Strauss, A. & Corbin, J. (1990). Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques. Newbury Park, CA: Sage. Taylor, S. J. & Bogdan, R. (1984). Introduction to qualitative research methods: The search for meanings (2nd ed.). New York: Wiley-lnterscience. Tocqueville, A. (1835/1990).Democracy in America. (Vol. 1). New York: Vintage Classics. U. S. Department of Education, (1983). A nation at risk. [On-line]. Available: http://inet.ed.gov/pubs/NatAtRisk/risk.html U. S. Bureau of Census, (2000). The Black population in the United States: March 1999 (Update). Detailed tables and documentation for P20-530 issued February 2000. Racial Statistics Branch, U. S. Bureau of the Census. Van Manen, M. (1990). Researching lived experience: Human science for an action sensitive pedagogy. London: State University of New York Press. Walsh, C. (2000, Spring). Busing in Boston: Looking back at the history and legacy. Harvard graduate school of education. Walter, M. P. (1996). Mississippi Challenge. New York: Aladdin Paperbacks. Washington, B. T. (1896, September). The awakening of the Negro.The Atlantic Monthly, 78 (466), 322-328. Washington, J. M. (1991). A testament of hope: The essential writings and speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr. San Francisco: Harper. Wiesbord, M. R. (1992) discovering common ground. San Francisco: Berrett- Koeher Wiesbord, M. R. & Janoff, S. (1995). Future search. San Francisco: Berrett-Koeher. West, C. (1993). Race Matters. Boston: Beacon Press. West, C. (1997). Restoring hope: Conversations on the future of Black America. Boston: Beacon Press Wilson, C. R. and Ferris, W. (Eds.) (1989). The encyclopedia of southern culture. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 277 Woodson, C. G. (1993). The mis-education of the Negro. Trenton, NJ: African World Press, Inc. Woolcott, H. F. (1990). More ethnographic.Journal of contemporary ethnography, 19, 45-72. Worden, A. (2000). Study: Juvenile justice hits blacks hardest. [On-line]. Available: http://www.apbnews.com/cisvstem/iusticenews/2000/04/25/vouthstudv0425 01.htm! Worden, A. (2000). Is the war on drugs a war on Blacks? [On-line], Available: http://www.apbnews.com/cisystem/iusticenews/2000/06/08/drugwar0608 01 .html Yin, R. K. (1984). Case study research: Design and methods. Newbury Park, CA: Sage. Young, A. (1996). An easy burden: The civil rights movement and the transformation of America. New York: Harper Collins Publishers. Zinn, H. (1990). A people's history of the United States. New York: Harper Perennial. Zinn, H. (1994). "Representative government: The Black experience." In F. L. Pincus, and H. J. Ehrlich (Eds.), Race and ethnic conflict: Contending views on prejudice, discrimination, and ethnoviolence. Boulder, CO: Westview Press. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 278 APPENDIX Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 279 Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) (partial list) Dora J. Adams J. Eugene Guerrero Myltree Adams Lawrence Guyot James Anderson Fannie Lou Hamer Ella Baker Jan Handke Rims Barber Vincent Harding Roger Barnhill Rosemarie Harding A.Daniel Beittel Clarie Collins Harvey B.L. Bell Jr. Aaron Henry Fay Bellamy Bill Higgs Bob Beyers Linda Jenkins Unita Blackwell Olivia Johnson Julian Bond Sarah H. Johnson Heather Booth Harion Joye Mary Booth Barbara Joye MirhAloe Dnconrtnof t ll\/l IW IUV W M I Robert Kastenmeier Harry Bowie Edwin King Anne Braden Henry J. Kirksey Travis Britt Mary Lane Raylawni Branch Sandy Leigh Horace Buckley John Lewis N.R. Burger Nathaniel H. Lewis Robert Cableton Lewis Liddell Stokely Carmichael Allard Lowenstein Oscar Carr Ruby Magee Hodding Carter III Charles McDew Colia Liddell Clark Silas McGhee Barry Clemson Leslie McLemore Charles Cobb Anne Moody Douglas M. Cotton Amzie Moore Courtland Cox Charles Moore David Dennis Robert Moses Doris Derby Jack Newfield Annie Devine Martha Prescod Norman John Dittmer John O'Neal Ivanhoe Donaldson Peter Orris Mary Tyler Dotson Hazel Palmer Karen Duncanwood; James D. Randolph Charles Evers; Joseph Rauh Jimmy C. Fairley George Raymond James Farmer Judy Richardson Larry Farmer Will Henry Rogers Jr. Steven Fraser Franklin Delano Roosevelt III Susan Goodwillie Larry Rubin Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 280 John R. Salter William Taylor Mendy Samstein Walter Tillow Emma Sanders Hollis Watkins Mario Savio Phillip West Pete Seeger Fred Winyard Frank Smith Robert E. Wright Eldridge W. Steptoe Jr. Zoya Zeman Elizabeth Sutherland Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 281 Participant Questionnaire 1. When did you first leam about the Freedom School program? 2. How and when did you become involved in the program? 3. What factors prompted that involvement? 4. How would you describe the program where you worked? 5. What would you categorize as the most important goals of the program? 6. How can or were these goals achieved? 7. Since (or if) this is categorized as an alternative to the regular educational program can you tell me about factors in the educational system that prompted the program and what makes (made) freedom schools different? 8. What are some of your most notable experiences in the Freedom School program? 9. Describe the training you received to be ready to work in the freedom school. 10. How helpful was this training for your work with the students in the program? 11. Can you think of anything you learned in this program that you could apply to your personal life? Historical background of Freedom Schools 12. Can you tell me about the changes in the program you noted from the time you began in the program to now (or when you stopped working in the program)? 13. What do you know about the 1964 (current) Freedom School program? 14. How are these two programs related? 15. What differences stand out most for you between the two programs? 16. What similarities do you note in the programs? 17. What do you think are (or were) the goals of the program? 18. What importance do you see for each program? Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 282 Participant Questionnaire #2 (1964 Freedom School) 1. How were you involved in the 1964 Freedom School program? 2. What factors led to the development of the program? 3. What factors prompted your involvement in the program? 4. What were the most important goals of the program? 5. Where were the Freedom Schools located? 6. Where were they housed? 7. What type of training did the teachers receive prior to working in the program? 8. Where there any programs similar to the Freedom School developed earlier? If so where and how did it/they differ? 9. How did your experience with the Freedom School affect your life? 10. How long did the early Freedom School last? 11. CDF developed a Freedom School program in 1992. What do you know about this program? 12. How are the programs similar and/or different? Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 283 Participant Questionnaire #3 Leadership 1. The trainers in this program are called Ella Baker Trainers. What is the significance of this title? 2. W hat philosophies of Ella Baker are used in this program? 3. The interns are called Servant Leaders. Where does this term originate? 4. What characteristics are sought in a Servant Leader? 5. What do you see as the overall goal of BCCC and Freedom School organization for the development of Ella Baker Trainers and Servant Leaders? 6. How many sites have begun and closed since 1992? 7. What are some of the factors that led to the closure of those Freedom School sites? 8. What does the institutionalizing of the Freedom School program mean? 9. How can the Freedom School be institutionalized? 10. How many sites will run in the summer of 2000? 11. Are there any important objectives or facts about the program that have not been asked in other questions that need to be explored? Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 284 UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO CONSENT TO ACT AS A RESEARCH SUBJECT I understand that O. Yvonette Powell, a doctoral candidate in the School of Education at the University of San Diego, is conducting a study on the Freedom School program as an example of leadership and social change in the Black community. I have been asked participate in this study. I understand that Ms. Powell’s research focuses on understanding the Freedom School program from the perspective of the participants. I further understand that my thoughts, reactions, stories, and experiences as a participant are important in this research t r s i o r l anrlw>< tva XA/ill h tarw n ntVJWVWW. I understand I will be interviewed for approximately sixty to ninety minutes. There will possibly be a need for a second interview. Additionally, a follow-up plan will be developed to allow me to review the transcripts from my interview and make any corrections I feel necessary. Participation in this study should not involve any discomfort or risk, either physical or mental. My participation in this study is entirely voluntary. I understand that I may refuse to participate or withdraw at any time. I understand that due to my position anonymity may not be possible. Thus I consent to the use of my name and title during the research process and in any publication of the research results. Yvonette Powell has explained this study to me and answered my questions. If I have other questions or research-related problems, I can reach Ms. Powell at (619) 697- 7508. There are no other written or verbal agreements related to this study beyond that expressed on this consent form. I, the undersigned, understand the above explanation and, on that basis, I give consent to voluntary participation in this research. Signature of Subject Date Location Signature of Witness Date Signature of Researcher Date Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 285 UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO CONSENT TO ACT AS A RESEARCH SUBJECT 1 understand that O. Yvonette Powell, a doctoral candidate in the School of Education at the University of San Diego, is conducting a study on the Freedom School program as an example of leadership and social change in the Black community. I have been asked participate in this study. I understand that Ms. Powell’s research focuses on understanding the Freedom School program from the perspective of the participants. I further understand that my thoughts, reactions, stories, and experiences as a participant are important in this research and will be quoted. I understand I will be interviewed for approximately sixty to ninety minutes. There will possibly be a need for a second interview. Additionally, a follow-up plan will be developed to allow me to review the transcripts from my interview and make any corrections I feel necessary. Participation in this study should not involve any discomfort or risk, either physical or mental. My participation in this study is entirely voluntary. I understand that I may refuse to participate or withdraw at any time. I understand I have the right to keep my research records completely confidential. My identity will not be disclosed during the research process without consent required by law. I further understand that my name will not appear in any written documentation of this study without prior approval. Yvonette Powell has explained this study to me and answered my questions. If I have other questions or research-related problems, I can reach Ms. Powell at (619) 697- 7508. There are no other written or verbal agreements related to this study beyond that expressed on this consent form. I, the undersigned, understand the above explanation and, on that basis, I give consent to voluntary participation in this research. Signature of Subject Date Location Signature of Witness Date Signature of Researcher Date Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 286 UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO CONSENT TO ACT AS A RESEARCH SUBJECT I understand that O. Yvonette Powell, a doctoral candidate in the School of Education at the University of San Diego, is conducting a study on the Freedom School program as an example of leadership and social change in the Black community. I have been asked participate in this study. I understand that Ms. Powell’s research focuses on understanding the Freedom School program from the perspective of the participants. I further understand that my thoughts, reactions, stories, and experiences as a participant are important in this research and will be quoted. I understand I will be interviewed for approximately sixty to ninety minutes. There will possibly be a need for a second interview. Additionally, a follow-up plan will be developed to allow me to review the transcripts from my interview and make any corrections I feel necessary. Participation in this study should not involve any discomfort or risk, either physical or mental. My participation in this study is entirely voluntary. I understand that I may refuse to participate or withdraw at any time. I understand I have the right to keep my research records completely confidential. My identic/ will not be disclosed during the research process without consent required by iaw. i further understand that my name will not appear in any written documentation of this study without prior approval. Yvonette Powell has explained this study to me and answered my questions. If I have other questions or research-related problems, I can reach Ms. Powell at (619) 697- 7508. There are no other written or verbal agreements related to this study beyond that expressed on this consent form. I the undprsinnpd understand the ahnve emanation and nn that hack I niv/e consent to voluntary participation in this research. Signature of Subject Date Location Signature of Witness Date Signature of Researcher Date Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 287 The Black Community Crusade for Children Freedom Schools I ntegrated Re a d in g C u rr ic ulum Theme: "I Can Make A Difference" To sit and dream, to sit and read. To sit and leam about the world Outside our world of here and r.ow - Gur problem world— To dream of vast horizons of the soul Through dreams m ade whole Unfettered, free-help me! All you who are dreamers, too. Help me make Our world anew. I reach out my dreams to you. -Langston Hughes We believe that reading is a key that can unlock the door to children's dreams and unlimited potential. The books listed here have been very carefully chosen. They represent the best work of the countrys best writers and illustrators, and children across the nation deserve to nave access to them. With the help of well-prepared and caring adults, these books have the power to help children better understand themselves and the world, and to instill in them a life-long love of reading. We offer this guide to assist those of you who accept responsibility for providing quality programs for children and young people in local communities. The books: • Are developmental^ appropriate • Lend themselves to a range of interesting, creative activities • Reflect the children's own images • Relate their authentic history, culture, and heritage through the eyes of children • Introduce children to adults and children who have made and continue to make a difference in the lives of others • Offer children ideas and encouragement to involve themselves in community service, no matter what their own circumstance • Help children explore fundamental issues related to self-esteem and • Expand their capacity to dream and to believe they can make their dreams reality. The book list consists of seventy-five to eighty titles that are appropriate for children ages 5-18. There are five weeks of lesson plans for approximately half of the books to help staff and children reflect on the following weekly themes: Self, Family, Community, Country, and the World. They are meant to serve as anchors for your work and can be easily adapted for a six to eight-week program. You should feel free to embellish them as staff talents and interests and those of the children dictate. The Site Library books provide a rich resource for recreational reading, Read-Alouds and research on history and community service projects. Whatever monetary restraints a program may have to face, the book budget must be a priority. It should always be fully funded - no matter what CDF will handle all book ordering. Individual sites do not need to order books. This is meant to be an activity-oriented curriculum. It is designed to excite, motivate, stimulate, arouse, expose, inspire, delight, enchant, and rejuvenate! It is not designed to teach the mechanics of reading. The goal setforth in this guideis to help readers and non-readers fall in love with the books: the stories, the characters, the pictures, the ideas, and the values; and to give non-readers an overwhelming desire to read - which is a basic step to doing it The program will have succeeded if children go away with a thirst for reading. The Reading Curriculum is also a perfect vehicle for leading children to higher levels of thinking and expression. Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives lists six levels of understanding to use as a guide. Children should have Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 288 opportunities to explore all six levels. The lesson plans and the list of Additional Reading Activities, found in the Appendix, have taken many of them into account. The rest is up to you. As you can see from the suggested program schedule that appears in the Appendix, the Reading Cum'culum represents one segment of an all-day, five-days-a-week, five-week summer enrichment program. You should feel free to adjust it to your needs and time frame. Reading Curriculum Guides designed especially for after-school and Saturday programs will soon be available. Developing meaningful relationships with the children is an uncontested No.1 priority for any program. Building excitement about the books is a close second. Use them to “turn on" each child that is entrusted to your care and keeping. You and they will be richly rewarded. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 289 Freedom Schools embrace an education vision for children that promotes academic enrichment as well as social, cultural and historical awareness. Freedom Schools support the mission of the Children's Defense Fund (CDF) and the Black Community Crusade for Children (BCCC) to Leave No Child Behinde and to ensure that every child has a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start, and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help o f caring families and communities. Healthy Start Healthy bodies assist in the development of healthy minds. During a day in Freedom Schools students are fed two nutritious meals, breakfast and lunch. These meals provide children with energy to sustain them through an activity-filled day of reading, art, music, dance, recreational games and other culturally enriching activities. Head Start Reading is one of several keys that unlocks the door to a child's potential. During a Freedom Summer, children read a superb collection of books that reflect a wide variety of cultures, experiences and characters through the use of positive images and role models. The summer long theme of the curriculum is "i CanMake A Difference' withweekly sub themes on Self. Family. Community, Country, and World. The curriculum used in Freedom Schools promotes reading, cooperative learning, critical thinking and discussion skills. Fair Start A noted advocate once stated 'children need ourpresence more than our presents.' Local Freedom School sites form partnerships with parents, churches, community organizations, and other caring community leaders to become better advocates for children. Children who are supported by strong parents and have strong values reinforced by communities will believe they have the ability to succeed. Freedom Schools provide a continuum of community-based social action ‘projects on benaif of children for parents, young and caring community members. Safe Start Children who are encouraged, affirmed and supported will lend themselves to the learning process to discover their individual gifts and talents. Freedom Schools believe all children can learn when they are nurtured and taught by caring adults who believe in them and who are committed to sharing with them the joys of learning. Freedom Schools provide a safe haven to foster this development of self discovery. Moral Start Freedom Schools are staffed primarily by college-age young people who act as positive role models and mentors. These servant-leaders are committed to children, social action and advocacy; demonstrate a commitment to excellence; and have a strong sense of cultural pride. Children will learn by example the values of honesty, hard work, respect for self and others, and the importance of re-investing In the community. “ • - - —-»- n./ r* I / ^ / V » \ A O Q A i'7 8 '7 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 290 cIhe Freedom ScHooC Vision The Black Community Crusade for Children (BCCC) works in partnership with parents, young adults, and caring community leaders to create a new education vision for our children through the Freedom Schools. W e seek to create a supportive, nurturing environment that sets high expectations for children, strengthens their sense of self worth, and lets them know that they are loved and valued by caring adults. In the words of Dr. John Hope Franklin, honorary co-chair of the BCCC, we want our children "to appreciate fully the artistic, moral and spiritual values that will bring to them much of their heritage of the past and make it possible to pass them on to their successors. [We want to help our children develop] an understanding and appreciation for family, for their own rich heritage derived from their African forebears as well as their American experience, the kind of understanding that will simultaneously provide them with roots and ’wings." The integrated curriculum introduces children to a superb collection of books that reflect their own images and engages them in games and activities that promote critical and analytical thinking and conflict resolution skills. Culminating activities will allow children to showcase their talents in the theater arts. Parents are the most important partners in their children’s education. In Freedom Schools, parent workshops support their involvement in their children’s education, while giving them the skills and support necessary to help them succeed. Parents are encouraged to become advocates for their children, and to teach and reinforce positive values that promote academic excellence and social responsibility. Freedom Schools are staffed primarily by college-aged young people who are committed to making life better for children. A key goal is leadership development-identifying, training, linking, and nurturing a successor generation of young leaders. The Freedom School training prepares these young people to provide an enriching summer experience for the children they serve. It promotes principles of leadership by creating a link between effective programs, public policy and coalition building. The training also provides them with the skills necessary to put these principles into action. In the Freedom Schools an ethic of service is evident across generations as community leaders support these college-aged young people as they mentor their younger brothers and sisters. Dynamic Freedom School partnerships are helping to reweave the fabric of community. Adults of the community are encouraged to share their experiences, stories, and time with the children and vouna people. The Freedom School experience helps to connect children to their rich history and culture and expand their world. Freedom Schools acknowledge every child as unique and encourages them to develop their potential and accept their responsibility to make a difference. ‘ There can bene keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children. We come from a past in which the lives of our children were assaulted and devastated in many ways, particularly by the destruction of the vital chain of institutions essential to the healthy transfonnation of children into well functioning adults- the family home, the neighborhood communal stmctures, an effective educational environment and the wider socio-economic support system. High levels of violence, homelessness, poor nutrition, lack of facilities in the form of health services, clean water, sanitation and places to play in safety have helped to shatter many of our young people’s physical, emotional, and spiritual resources so essential to human dignity. As we set about building a new South Africa, one of our highest priorities must therefore be our children-for our children are our nation’s future.’ Nelson Mandela 1996 These words by Nelson Mandela, former president of South Africa, represent the vision of The Nelson Mandela Children's Fund whose purpose is to help inspire new efforts and strengthen existing ones aimed at repairing the ravaged fabric of their youth's social and economic circumstances. His vision and purpose parallels the vision of The Black Community Crusade for Children’s Freedom Schools Program. Though thousands of miles and an ocean separate our two countries, the conditions of the children that we serve are similar. These words remind us that while the work that we do in our communities is vitally important and significant, it is an integral part of a global effort to eliminate child poverty. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.